8/9/12
PARK INN, NORTHAMPTON
10 ROUNDS FOR VACANT BRITISH MASTERS TITLE
( REEVE - W - 8TH ROUND T.K.O )
"I would like to say a huge thank you to my sponsors Weee Environmental for all their support, My trainers John Daly and Bob Plant, and everyone that came".
Reeve toe-to-toe with Broadbent ( above )
Nathan Reeve is in little doubt that he is now amongst the top super flyweights in the country after claiming the vacant British Masters title with an incredible stoppage of fellow prospect Terry Broadbent on Saturday night.
The Northampton boxer halted the Yorkshireman 38 seconds into the eighth round of a contest he had been behind in early on at the Park Inn Hotel, sparking wild celebrations from the home town fans.
Reeve had to weather an early storm from Broadbent before turning things around in the second half of the fight, and he is now targeting a shot at the famous Lonsdale belt as well as looking beyond that.
“I have said before that I am a big puncher at this weight, I have four knockouts out of seven wins and I have proved now that I am one of the elite fighters in my weight division in the UK,” said the former Far Cotton Boys amateur.
"I have had a successful amateur career and boxed for England, I won world championships in kickboxing and I really do think that I can go all the way.
“I would like to go on and fight for British titles and beyond. It would be a great achievement and will excite a lot of people especially in Northampton."
This was about as close to a fifty-fifty contest as it gets, with both fighters being of similar age and having similar records. It more than lived up to expectations as well, with the pair dispensing with the niceties and spending much of the opening round going toe-to-toe in the centre of the ring.
Broadbent dominated the second round though, clubbing Reeve with some brutal right hooks that opened up a big cut around his ear which would later require stitches. The 23-year-old then tried to hammer home the advantage over the next few rounds.
Reeve would not yield though and in the seventh the momentum shifted when Broadbent was momentarily stunned with a left hook. He survived, but the end came early in the eighth with Broadbent backed up into the corner.
Reeve unloaded everything he had in his arsenal before referee Rob Chalmers jumped in to halt proceedings, and afterwards the 22-year-old put it down to the conditioning work done in the build-up to the fight.
He said: “I felt that over the course of the fight I had the stamina and as the fight was progressing I thought I could wear him down gradually.
“I just thought it was a matter of time, but I did not rush it too much. I just stayed back, boxed him and let my hands go.”
