Sam Noakes claims European lightweight title with comprehensive decision win over Yvan Mendy

Sam Noakes scored a comfortable decision win over Yvan Mendy on Saturday night at York Hall to claim the vacant European lightweight title.

38-year-old veteran Mendy had never suffered a stoppage, but for Noakes, he had never experienced anything but a win by knockout in each of his previous 13 fights.

The Frenchman previously held this belt at the weight, amongst other straps, and he represented a gatekeeping fight for his 26-year-old opponent.

Noakes was the reigning British and Commonwealth champion at the weight, and he was the slightly busier fighter in the opening stages.

Much of the fight took place at close range and in the ending seconds of the third, Noakes landed a heavy low blow but did not have Mendy sufficiently hurt to cause any concern before the bell rang, though Noakes’ low blow meant his opponent needed to take a few seconds to recover in the sixth.

An uppercut at the end of the next round had Mendy reeling towards the corner but he was saved by the bell before the Briton could really unload and take advantage.

Noakes looked to be cruising to a wide decision victory as the fight entered the championship rounds, and while his run of knockouts finally came to an end, he scored a valuable win over a durable opponent, with every judge giving the fight 120-108 in his favour.

For the Englishman, he can now look ahead to a step up in opponents before the year is out in a division stacked with talent.

Aloys Junior looked to make it seven consecutive victories after his debut loss, fighting fellow cruiserweight Pablo Farias from Argentina.

Farias took a brief break in the first round for what he perceived to be a low blow but was quickly back in the fight.

None of Junior’s wins had gone the distance, and a huge right hand in the third left Farias slumped in the corner. The South American beat the count but the end felt inevitable, though he managed to see out the round.

In the fourth, a heavy left resulted in Farias slumping onto his left knee, and he was unable or unwilling to get back into the fight.

Henry Turner fought in support of the main event against Maykol Mendoza, to contest the WBC International Silver super lightweight belt.

The Colombian was fighting in Europe for the first time in his career, while Turner was not just defending his belt, but his undefeated record.

By the third round it seemed that Mendoza - a late replacement with nine days’ notice - was looking to absorb punishment in the early stages, but he ate a couple of heavy shots in the fourth round to give Turner some encouragement of an early finish.

Mendoza started to look in real trouble in the fifth as he doubled over at times, with the referee telling him to straighten up more than once before he stepped in to end the contest.

Turner may now look ahead for a step up in class after retaining his belt, with the winner of the upcoming all-British super featherweight clash between Josh Taylor and Jack Catterall perhaps an ambitious fight to be made later in the year, but speaking to TNT Sports, he said he was aiming for a British title challenge.

He said: “I thought it was a very measured performance. I knew there was only one way to beat him - to take him out.

“I knew I had to be careful in the first few rounds.

“Next for me is for [Frank Warren] to give me what I want, the British title.”

Current super lightweight champion Dalton Smith may be tough to land, as he chases another British fighter, Adam Azim.

Earlier in the evening, on the undercard, Billy Adams continued his burgeoning career with a clear 40-36 decision victory over experienced journeyman Mark Butler at super featherweight.

Sam King came from Luton to take Artjom Spatar - hailing further afield, Estonia - for the middleweight fight that was second on the card.

Spatar had lost his last few match-ups and it looked like he would lose another, but he grew into the last two rounds of the four to pull off an upset with a draw.

Next up, bantamweights Andrew Cain and Darwing Martinez stepped up, with Cain feeling his way back into the ring after hand surgery.

In the fourth round of the scheduled eight, Cain opened up with a right-hander that sent Martinez to the canvas, and the fight was waved off when the Nicaraguan stepped to his feet towards the end of the count.

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