Ringside Report: Tyler Denny Beats Felix Cash To Retain European Middleweight Title
By Alex Springer
Tyler Denny beat Felix Cash to retain his European middleweight title at Resorts World in front of his passionate and vocal home fans in Birmingham on Saturday night. The fight went to the scorecards after the referee stopped the fight near the beginning of round five due to a severe cut on Cash's right eye. The judges scored the fight 49-46 and 49-47 twice, all in favour of Denny.
The crowd was still trying to come down from the incredible Felix Crocker vs. Conah Walker battle as Denny made his way to the ring to the familiar Infiltrate by Sean Paul.
When the bell sounded for round one, Cash made a decent start, but his timing seemed a little off. The cut to Cash's right eye was first visible in round two, and Denny capitalised and landed multiple lead right hooks during the round as Cash seemed to lose his way at the taste of his own blood.
Denny (19-2-3) took control of the remaining rounds, regularly landing the southpaw lead right hand and covering up effectively from Cash's advances. Cash (16-1) did some decent work to the body, but not enough to put Denny in any trouble or slow down the reigning champion's forward advances. Cash needed space. Denny wasn't giving him what he needed.
It looked like an uphill struggle for Cash by the end of the 4th round as Denny started to land the backhand with increased frequency before the referee Mark Lyson stopped the contest in the following round.
The eighteen months that Cash had out of the ring was a large part of the narrative in the build-up, and it seemed to be a factor on the night. But even taking the inactivity into consideration you can't take anything away from Denny, who thoroughly deserved the win and was well on his way to a stoppage before the premature ending to the fight.
"On paper, it's my biggest win, but it doesn't really feel like it because it wasn't a hard fight," Denny told the media in the dressing room after the fight.
Chris Eubank was mentioned by Denny post-fight as a future opponent, but the British title, currently being held by Nathan Heaney, did not appeal.
"I don't want the British title, I want the money fights or World titles. All my team believe in me. A lot of boxing experts were saying that Cash was going to do this and that. Now they have to say Tyler is going to do this, and Tyler is going to do that."
Denny thrives by being the underdog, but how much longer will the underdog tag stick? Is there a British Boxer on a hotter streak than Denny right now? It will be interesting to see what's next for Denny on this fantastic journey.
Photo Credit: Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing
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