10:33am Tuesday 16th March 2010
By Dave Flett
HARRY Matthews maintained his 100 per cent record as a pro with a fifth-round victory against Terry Carruthers at Milton Keynes Dons Football Club.
The Pocklington Rocket made it nine wins from nine after his Birmingham-based opponent could not carry on with one second left of the penultimate round.
It was middleweight Matthews’ first six-round contest and the former National Amateur Boxing Association semi-finalist and one-time Yorkshire and Humberside champion responded well to secure the second stoppage of his career.
Speaking afterwards, Matthews said: “It was a really tough fight – an absolute war. He was unbeaten in his last four fights so I knew it would be a good test.
“The atmosphere was a great buzz and I was the most nervous I have ever been before a fight because it was my first time at six rounds but I think that suits me. I seem to kick on after four rounds and I don’t think there will be many people around who can match my fitness levels.
“My punching power has also come on and I think I showed that against a durable opponent. He was in fantastic shape and came at me from the first round.
“He hurt me in the second with an upper cut but, in the fifth, I caught him with a right and that wobbled him.
“He carried on through a barrage of punches and some people thought the fight should have been stopped 30 seconds before the end of the round. He’s the best guy I’ve fought and I stopped him so that proves I’m moving up a bit.”
Matthews is now looking forward to a fortnight break after training hard ahead of this fight, alongside highly-rated Londoner Yassine El Machi and former World, Commonwealth and British lightweight champion Graham Earl.
He is hoping to be on the undercard of El Machi’s next fight at Bethnal Green’s York Hall on June 19.
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