Griffiths win’s Black Country title battle

Ryan Griffiths with the Midlands belt. Pictures: MSN Images

RYAN Griffiths and Lewis Morris put on a superb action-filled 10 rounds for the Midlands Area super-featherweight title on BCB’s Hangar show, with the former coming out on top.

It was both men’s first championship fight, and there had been plenty of respect between the two in the build-up, writes PAUL WEBB.

Dudley man Griffiths trains at the BCB gym in Wednesbury. He came in to the fight unbeaten in four but was dropping down two weight divisions and had never boxed past four rounds. Morris, from Walsall, is a product of Richie Carter’s Wolverhampton Boxing Club and had a slight edge in experience, with eight wins from his nine previous fights and having gone six-round distance twice.

Griffiths fires a right at Lewis Morris

Griffiths got the better of the early action, using his jab to snap back the head of Morris, who was being forced to work very hard for his own opportunities to land. The rounds flew by at speed with very little in the way of holding, making it an easy night’s work for referee Chris Dean.

At the halfway point, Griffiths was comfortably ahead, but Morris was forcing the pace and landing some nice combinations. They were being answered with some heavy blows in return. This was uncharted territory for both, but they had prepared well and looked in great condition.

A sense of urgency seemed to hit Morris, and he upped his work rate once again in the ninth and finished the fight strongly. It looked like he had left this late surge a bit too late. And so it was to be as both men raised their hands at the end, thinking they had done enough, but it was Griffiths who took the decision 96-94.