The Manchester Arena was home to the World Boxing Super Series semifinal bout between George Groves and Chris Eubank Jr., but it was also home to a couple of major British bouts and a potential WBSS finalist.
The February 17 card from Manchester had a co-main event of Ryan Walsh vs. Isaac Lowe for the British Boxing Board of Control British featherweight title. The fight had ended in a split draw (116-114, 115-114, 115-115), meaning Walsh gets to retain the British title. It was another frustrating result for Walsh as it is now the third title fight to end in a draw for Walsh, who previously challenged for the European featherweight title last year.
The other BBBofC British title bout was a middleweight fight between Tommy Langford and Jack Arnfield. Although the bout was a close one and Arnfield showed signs of potentially beating Langford, but it was Langford who emerged victorious by unanimous decision (116-113, 116-113, 117-113). It was Langford’s second British title fight as his last won was back in 2016 when he beat Sam Sheedy by split decision.
The other noteworthy bout was a super middleweight fight between Zach Parker and Adasat Rodriguez. The fight itself had no stakes and it ended with Parker getting a quick TKO win, but Parker was tabbed to be a reserve fighter in case the winner of the Groves vs. Eubank Jr. fight is not able to compete in the World Boxing Super Series finals in June.
That might actually be a possibility because Groves, who won his fight against Eubank Jr., advanced to the finals but injured his shoulder towards the end of the fight. It is feared that the injury could keep him out of the finals, leaving the door open for Parker to fill in for Groves. No official announcement regarding Groves’ status or that of the World Boxing Super Series super middleweight finals, has been made.
The undercard fights can be seen in the video above.
