George Liddard captured the trifecta this evening in Middlesex, U.K., stopping rugged Italian Dario Morrello to capture the vacant European middleweight title. In less than ten months, Liddard annexed the British, Commonwealth and now Euro titles at 24 years of age, all while remaining undefeated at 15-0, 9 KOs.
Morrello came in sporting a not-too-shabby 26-1, 4 KOs record himself. Despite his low KO percentage, Morrello fought like a man bent on scoring the big stoppage, firing haymakers with each hand, relying very little on the jab. Each man rocked the other early, but it was Liddard whose ring I.Q., (something Morrello disputed Liddard possessed), took over. Morrello had increasing difficulty getting inside to land anything of significance or cumulative. A bad cut opened over the right eye of Morrello in the eighth, prompting referee Jose Lazaro Carrasco to pause for the doctor’s examination. After a few moments, the bout was allowed to continue. But a short while later, Morrello was down courtesy of a Liddard series of rights. Morrello beat the count and lasted the round, but his corner wisely pulled their man out, giving Liddard his third crown at 3:00 of the eighth.
For his part, Liddard expressed interest in facing fellow Brit and WBO champ Denzel Bentley. If not that, he’d be keen to travel across the pond to face an American “Yank.” We shall see!
