Click to listen to David Barnes   trainer Bob Shannon   Barry Morrison    
DAVID Barnes successfully defended his British Light-Welterweight title with a points triumph over Barry Morrison.

In a thrilling contest at the Everton Park Sports Centre in Liverpool, Barnes got the verdict by a unanimous decision of 116-113, 116-113 and 116-112 margins.

It was a brave performance from Morrison but Barnes stamped his authority on the opening rounds and, despite a spirited fightback from the Scot, that proved to be decisive.

The fight, which was shown on Sky Sports, was the main event in Matchroom Sport's latest boxing show.

But it did not disappoint and proved to be a highly entertaining clash with both fighters determined to take the glory.

However, Barnes revealed he had taken a massive risk as he fought despite suffering a rib injury only three weeks before the contest.

"I broke my rib three weeks ago in sparring and was going to pull out of the fight," admitted Barnes in an exclusive interview with www.matchroomsport.com

"This week I saw how it was and felt a bit better but halfway through the fight I started feeling it. But I carried on and won the fight easily.

"It did affect me and was a big gamble. I should've pulled out but I thought it would be alright. He (Morrison) is a tough kid but I'm tougher.

"He knew he couldn't overpower me and every time I hit him I hurt him."

Click here to listen to the full interview with David Barnes

Barnes' trainer Bob Shannon believes Barnes will aim to win the Lonsdale belt outright - to go with the British Welterweight belt that he already has for winning four title fights.

"I want him to win the Longsdale belt outright then he will have a second one for his second child," said Shannon.

"That's another two fights then I want him to go to the next level - European or World title. By Christmas, hopefully he will be going for the European.

"Junior Witter said he would go down to European level and it would be a great fight as they are both swift counter punches."

Click here to listen to the full interview with Bob Shannon

Morrison, although disappointed with the defeat, admitted Barnes deserved the victory.
 
"It was a fair decision and he was the better man on the night and a good operator," said Morrison.

"He's a hard man to catch. I thought I was doing a lot of the hard work but he was nicking the rounds.

"I didn't get totally outclassed and I will be back for sure. I thought I had him a couple of times but when you catch him once he's a hard man to catch with two or three."

Click here to listen to the full interview with Barry Morrison

Fight report
It was a bright start from Barnes, the defending British Light-Welterweight Champion, as he used his right jab well in the opening two rounds.

Morrison was trying to force the pace but Barnes was happy to sit back and catch his opponent with a fine display of counter punching many times when the Scot moved in.

That meant Morrison had struggled to gain any momentum as the home fighter looked to have moved into an early points lead.

Morrison touched the canvas twice in the third but both times it was due to a push instead of any successful punches landed in a scrappy three minutes.

But it showed that Morrison had failed to make much of an impact in the opening three rounds and would need to step up his performance if he was to get his British title back.

He improved in the fourth as the Scottish fighter produced his best three minutes so far with a series of combinations.

During the fourth Barnes sustained a cut near his right eye that dribbled blood down the side of his face for the remainder of the round. It was not clear to see whether a punch or clash of heads had caused the damage but it was something Morrison would be keen to exploit.

The next two were hard to call and it already looked like it could go down to a tight decision on the judges scorecards.

Morrison's fans clearly thought their man had won the seventh as they started taunted the home supporters, but it appeared that Morrison was throwing more but Barnes was more prolific in landing.

Barnes continued to find his range in the next and probably again did enough to catch the judges' eyes, but Morrison's determination could not be questioned.

At no stage had he hidden and was putting up a spirited attempt so far to try to get back into the boxing big time.

Some of Morrison's best work came in the ninth with a left-right combination to the face that, for the first time in the contest, appeared to hurt the Englishman.

It was proving to be the classic that had been expected and it would come down to which fighter wanted the victory more. The home fans, who had been in good voice, were now silent, as they feared Barnes was letting his title slip away.

A fine last round from Morrison would have made things very interesting but Barnes showed he would not give up his belt without a fight as he ended the contest strongly as he looked to put Morrison away.

He could not do so as the decision went to the judges scorecards with both fighters confident they had won but it was Barnes' arm that was raised.

Build-up - Barnes struggles to make the weight
There was drama at the weigh-in on Thursday as Barnes struggled to make the 10-stone weight limit.

His opponent Barry Morrison comfortably made the weight but Barnes was 12oz over.

After a warm bath and a ten-minute skipping session, Barnes returned and had to go on the scales completely naked to scrape under the limit.

Despite this, Barnes remained confident he would be victorious in the fight, which will be held at the Everton Park Sports Centre in Liverpool.

"In my last fight against Ted Bami (to win the belt) it was at a fast pace and I proved I could do it at 10-stone," said Barnes.

"I'm very fit and have been training very hard and running up loads of hills."

Morrison, who is a former British title holder himself, lost his grip on the same belt in June 2007 when he was beaten by Colin Lynes.

"Barnes will not want to lose," said Morrison. "But I'm very confident that I'm going to prove everyone that I'm a better fighter than they think I am."

A number of fans had travelled down from Scotland to support on their hero Morrison as he looked to reclaim his British title.

It made for a great atmosphere at the Everton Park Sports Centre in Liverpool in what promised to be a classic encounter.

12 x 3 mins British Light-Welterweight Championship
David Barnes (Manchester) bt Barry Morrison (Motherwell) - UD PTS 116-113, 116-113, 116-112

Date updated: July 7, 2008

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