At York Hall on Saturday night, Carl Frampton safely negotiated a potentially slippery rung on the ladder to the top with a 7^th round stoppage of Bellshill's Kris Hughes (8st 9lbs 1oz). Defending his Commonwealth Bantamweight title, Frampton (8st 9lbs 8oz) pressed forward from the opening bell but found it difficult to connect cleanly on the “Bellshill Badger” (Presumably as much for his prematurely grey hair as for his tenacity). In the 2^nd, Carl settled down and started to pick his shots a little better, drawing leads from Hughes and looking to land the big right hand counter. Kris was awkward and used his reach advantage well to frustrate Frampton, without ever really troubling him. Frampton upped the pace in the 3^rd and 4^th, walking his man down and mixing it up nicely to head and body.

The 5^th was a little flat as Carl's work rate dropped but Kris failed to capitalise on the brief window of opportunity. Frampton's foot went back on the gas in the 6^th and he started to get through more frequently with hurtful combinations, usually culminating in a big right hook. After a dressing down from his corner, Hughes showed more ambition at the start of the 7^th and tagged Frampton with several straight shorts from both hands. It was only a brief change in the direction of the traffic though as Frampton came back with two massive right hooks, the second of them landing on Hughes' jaw and dropping him hard. Referee Mark Green waved it off before finishing the count. A brave resistance from Hughes but a relatively comfortable night for Carl Frampton, who will now be looking towards the likes of Rendall Munroe and Scott Quigg.

The chief support was a fight of the year contender between Stoke Newington's Eric Ochieng (11st) and Liverpool's Nick Quigley (10st 13lbs). The prospect of two fighters with barely a stoppage win between them in a ten rounder did not initially set the pulse racing. However, the pair went toe to toe from the very first bell and threw well over a thousand punches between them over eight and a bit rounds. Quigley, who had impressed previously in Prizefighter, spent most of the time on the front foot but it was Ochieng who consistently landed the cleaner shots. With neither fearing the other's punching power, both fighters seemed content to ship punishment in return for landing their own punches.

Eric's shoulder roll defence did reduce the number of clean shots he had to take and was probably the main difference between the two fighters in the end. They set a frenetic pace from the start and didn't let up. Quigley probably took the 2^nd round but other than that Eric “The Eagle” was invariably getting through with more scoring punches, landing right hooks and uppercuts that regularly knocked Nick's head back over the next few rounds.

It was a slightly bizarre ending in so far as it could have been stopped between rounds. Behind on the cards and taking a lot of punishment by the end of the 8^th round, Quigley's chances of winning did seem remote, but he was clear headed and still throwing plenty himself. His corner sent him out for the 9^th only to throw in the towel seconds later. As strange as that was and as much as Scott complained that he was fine to carry on, he had shipped an awful lot of punches so it wasn't a bad call by the corner to save him from his own bravery.

Earlier in the evening, Super middleweight Robin Reid showed he still has something left to offer at 40 years old with a spectacular stoppage of Daniel Cadman. After four rounds of shoe shining and bumping heads, Reid uncorked a peach of a right hook early in the 5^th which had the referee jumping in to call a halt before Cadman had even touched the canvas.

Islington's John Ryder (11^st 8lbs) also ended matters early against late replacement Mariusz Biskupski.(11^st 3lbs). The Smaller Biskupski was game but clearly out of his depth and Rider dropped him with a right hook late in the 2^nd round then stopped his man with the same shot a few seconds later.

Cruiserweight debutant Canning Town's Wadi Camacho picked up an opening win with a 40-37 win over Belfast's Moses Matuvo. Matuvo was a lot more lively than the average “opponent” and proved awkward for Wadi throughout the four rounds. Camacho's southpaw jab left a lot to be desired and could barely even be described as “pawing” as he relied a bit too heavily on the big straight left. Plenty to work on before the next contest.

The usual lively crowd at another York Hall sell out were in good voice and good spirits. Some Kenyan supporters who'd come to see Eric Ochieng treating the rest of us to a few bouts of ululating which I don't think I've heard at boxing before! Fight fan and first time visitor to York Hall, Mathew Kell was impressed with the night's entertainment and vowed to return soon. Even if we're missing out on some big fights at the upper echelons of the game, you're always guaranteed a good night and a good atmosphere at “The Home of Boxing”

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