James Scarrott claimed his first championship belt as a professional, picking up the vacant Midlands Area welterweight title with a compelling points win against Jamie Stewart.
The fight headlined BCB’s ‘February Firepower’ at the H Suite in Edgbaston Friday night, and it was a real coming-of-age experience for the twenty-year-old from Worcester. It was Scarrott’s first ten-round bout, and although his record on paper looked better than his opponent’s (5-0) compared to 4-5-3, the experience was definitely on Stewart’s side.
Stoke-On- Trent breeds tough people, and Jamie Stewart is certainly tough. The man from the potteries had already boxed five times for versions of the Midlands title, winning one and going the distance in the other four.
Scarrott started well in a quiet opening round that saw him look to hold the centre of the ring, while Stewart seemed content to box off the back foot using his snappy jab to keep distance between the pair.
The styles gelled well, and the two men were both landing point-scoring blows as the rounds seemed to fly by with both having success. Stewart is rarely shut out on the cards, and in the middle stage, he was growing in confidence as the jab continued to land with accuracy.
The pace dropped a little, but the action was clean, with little in the way of holding or messing about. The man in the middle, referee Chris Dean, didn’t have much to do.
However, Scarrott started to go through the gears and looked the fresher out of the two, landing the heavier blows and pulling away as the fight headed towards the later stages. At times, it looked like a tricky bout to score, but the aggression and momentum were with the younger man, and the first-time challenger finished strongly.
Stewart’s corner thought they had done enough and looked confident at the final bell, but it was Scarrott who rightly got his hand raised, taking a 97-93 point victory, and the first belt of hopefully many is now in his possession.
“I felt good, said Scarrott. I could have done more to make it easier, but it was my first ten rounds, and I boxed well. I knew my job would be important, and I learned a lot from the experience. Hopefully now I can push on and land a big fight or one on TV next.
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