Terry Flanagan vs. Derry Mathews: Lessons Learned from Liverpool Fight
Terry "Turbo" Flanagan retained his WBO lightweight title on Saturday with a unanimous points win over Derry Mathews in Liverpool, England.
While it turned out to be more of an absorbing fight than a thrilling one, Turbo (30-0, 12 KOs) triumphed to defend his belt for a second time. The Mancunian did enough to get the nod from all three judges.
British Boxing News confirmed the final scores on Twitter:
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Here, Bleacher Report reviews the action (and the one that got away) from the Echo Arena.
Champion Prevails
Flanagan may not have dazzled in victory, but he did show just why he is a world champion.
Entering his opponent's backyard, and after being booed on his ring walk, Turbo surprisingly set the pace for the first four rounds. Then, when Mathews tried to be the aggressor, Flanagan looked just as comfortable working on the counter.
Throwing straight punches, particularly left hands to the body (when he landed them on the right side of Mathews' belt), Flanagan always seemed to be in control.
Kevin Mitchell of the Guardian pointed out how the visiting boxer took charge as the contest wore on: "Flanagan’s strength began to tell in the ninth and 10th as his attacks grew more frequent and more damaging, to body and head. While Mathews has often proved dangerous towards the end of big fights, his punch rate dropped and he struggled to find openings."
The southpaw did walk a tightrope with some of his tactics, though. He had a point deducted for using his forearm to try to remove Mathews' head from his body in Round 8.
He had already received several warnings for low blows, too. Against a man nicknamed Dirty Derry, Flanagan ran the risk of giving up his title by disqualification.
However, as Bad Left Hook pointed out on Twitter, he was better off focusing on his boxing than trying to get an edge through illegal methods:
Through fair means, and the occasional foul, Flanagan found a way to keep his belt. He displayed his talent, and also his toughness, to extend his perfect record and show why it will take a seriously good lightweight to dethrone him.
Derry Disappointing
Mathews (38-10-2, 20 KOs) promised in the buildup to drag Flanagan into the trenches, per George Gigney of Boxing News:
"I want a war with Terry and I don’t want him to run. I want to put a proper fight on for the crowd and the paying public. I’ve got my fingers crossed that he stands toe-to-toe with me when we get it on. He’s come out again saying this fight won’t be going the distance but he still won’t name the round he’s going to stop me in. All the pressure is on him now and after the fight he’s going to realise he picked the wrong man to defend his title against.
"
However, he was never able to start a war in the ring. Instead, a tactical battle unfolded—and Mathews failed to come up with the required answers to the questions being posed by his opponent.
Flanagan didn't run, yet the challenger never managed to pin his rival down.
There were fleeting moments of success with his right hand, particularly on the counter, yet Mathews could not string enough combinations together.
He had managed to turn around difficult situations before in his career, most notably knocking out Tommy Coyle in July 2013 when behind. That sensational stoppage clinched him the Commonwealth title, too.
But, he never threatened to repeat the trick in the closing stages against Flanagan, which means he failed to mark the landmark occasion of his 50th fight by becoming a world champion.
Maybe the 32-year-old will look back at a later date and question some of his methods. More likely, however, he just came up against a younger, more gifted fighter who had his number.
The former British champion did not lack for effort throughout the 12 rounds. He had waited a long time for such an opportunity, and per BoxNation on Twitter, the defeat hit Mathews hard:
What Next?
For Flanagan, the future looks bright.
The obvious option is to face fellow Mancunian Anthony Crolla—who is due to defend his WBA strap against Ismael Barroso on May 7, according to BoxRec—in a unification clash.
In the post-fight press conference, promoter Frank Warren made it clear he's willing to pay to make it happen, per James Robson of the Manchester Evening News: "What we are saying is if the WBA say you’ve got to defend against Barroso—we’re saying vacate that title. Just fight for the WBO title and we’ll pay you the same money as coming in without any belt.
"We will pay exactly the same money."
Before Crolla goes all Rod Tidwell in the movie Jerry Maguire, his promoter, Eddie Hearn, is adamant the bout would only happen if the price is right. When asked on Twitter about the chances of seeing the two city rivals square off, Hearn replied: "For sure...for proper money, though."
If a battle between Manchester's two world champions doesn't look likely to happen in the near future, Turbo's team will target WBC champion Jorge Linares instead:
As for Mathews, he hinted afterward that the loss could signal the end of what has been a long and winding road in the paid ranks:
Such a reaction is understandable. While Dirty Derry is only 32, he has been a pro for over 13 years and has had a half-century of fights. He looked destined to walk away from the sport in 2009, but he has enjoyed a renaissance at lightweight.
He has a gym in his home city of Liverpool, and with no immediate route to allow him to challenge for any of the other major belts around, retirement may be the next move.
If Saturday was his final outing as a pro, thanks for the memories, Derry.
The Missing Man
Guillermo Rigondeaux should have been the chief support act on Saturday. The addition of the Cuban—a two-time Olympic gold medalist—was a real bonus for the event.
It was also a huge opportunity for his opponent, James "Jazza" Dickens.
The Liverpudlian—the reigning British champion at super bantamweight—admitted it was an offer too good to refuse, per Micheal McKenna of the Liverpool Echo: "It is like a Rocky story, one day I’m just training waiting for my next fight and then I get call, do I want to fight Guillermo Rigondeaux? Are you mad, one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world wants to fight me? Not half, I’ll definitely have some of that!"
However, the Hollywood storyline never made it to our screens because of Rigondeaux's issues obtaining a visa to enter Britain.
After completing his preparations in Russia, the 35-year-old decided not to hang around in the hope of being able to cut through the red tape. Instead, he flew back to Miami, effectively cancelling the fight.
An official announcement was made on Thursday to confirm the bad news. In a statement, Queensbury Promotions said, per BBC Sport: "We are all extremely disappointed by the situation."
But, it turns out that wasn't the end of the story. Steve Bunce in the Independent revealed: "An attempt to get him from Miami to Liverpool was eventually cancelled on Wednesday and his fight with the British super-bantamweight champion Jazza Dickens called off. All the paperwork, not inconsiderable considering Rigondeaux’s complicated status, had been completed; he was free to enter Britain and fight."
Now, the dust has settled, and no one comes out of the situation with any credit.
Rigondeaux missed the chance to impress a British audience, Dickens missed the chance to face a major star, and Queensbury Promotions missed out on having a huge name on the card.
Best of the Rest
Paul Butler picked up the vacant WBO International super flyweight title by stopping Mexican Sebastian Sanchez with a beautiful right-left hook combination to the body in Round 9.
However, he also picked up injuries to both hands. Butler told Alex Steedman of BoxNation after the win (h/t Elliot Foster of BoxingScene.com): "My left [hand] started going in the fourth and then my right [hand] went in round six, but went badly in round eight."
A spell on the sidelines would be a blow for the Baby Faced Assassin. A fight against either Jamie Conlan or Kal Yafai would be good to watch later in 2016, particularly if it happened to be a world-title eliminator.
Meanwhile, Zolani Tete—the man who took the IBF super flyweight belt from Butler in 2015—marked his move up to bantamweight by beating Jose Santos Gonzalez.
Middleweights Tommy Langford and Lewis Taylor served up the fight of the night, with the former prevailing on points to become the new Commonwealth champion.
Langford is now 16-0 (5 KOs), and as WBO champion Billy Joe Saunders is also in Warren's stable of fighters, he has an obvious target to aim for.
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