Jack Lafferty set himself up for the upcoming British super lightweight title fight by knocking out India's Sabari Jaishankar in the third round in Liverpool on Saturday night.
The welterweight fighter, 23-0 (14 KOs), was calm and smart in guiding Jaishankar behind his high guard, where he was able to block most of the counterattacks from the taller, more methodical Jaishankar. On the attack, Rafferty used straight thrusting shots and feints to force the Indian fighter back.
Midway through the third round, Lafferty knocked Jaishankar down with a powerful jab to the stomach, Jaishankar got up, but Lafferty knocked him down two more times before referee John Latham called the bout off.
The win was Lafferty's fifth by knockout in his last six fights and was the ideal warm-up for his challenge for the British super-lightweight title recently vacated by Dalton Smith. In early June, the British Boxing Board of Control invited bids for a bout for the vacant title between Lafferty, 28, from Shaw, and Henry Turner, who has a record of 13-0 (5 KOs). If no agreement is reached, bidding will open on July 10.
Also in the same promotion, Jaza Dickens (33-5 (15 KOs) defeated Jairo Fernando Duran in a dominant six round victory. The Honduran struggled against the former British super bantamweight champion, being knocked down three times, but rather than take it easy until the final bell, Dickens went for the finish, forcing referee Steve Gray to stop the bout midway through the final round.
Fighting at 130 pounds, Dickens was rumored to be facing a number of big names but rather than fight straight away he took the chance to build a relationship with new trainers Joe McNally and Declan O'Rourke.
Other results
Jack Power W TKO 1 Gennady Kraszewski
Stephen Clark W PTS 6 Jordan Granham
Vaida Maciokaitė W PTS 6 Liv Hussey
Kevin Cronin W PTS 6 Serhiy Kussensov
Jamie Morrissey W PTS 6 Hussein Itaba
Ted Jackson W PTS 4 Fernando Valencia
