Watch: Steve Martin outlasts Lydon Chircop to win Welterweight title at Fight Island

Diacono crowned as women’s champion

Steve Martin and Gail Diacono were the protagonists of Fight Island, the highly-anticipated Boxing event that attracted a huge crowd at the Basketball Pavilion, Ta’ Qali, on Friday night.

Martin and Diacono prevailed in the two title bouts scheduled on the night but the crowd present were treated to some exciting fights which included an impressive first-round victory for Haithem Laamouz over Irish boxer Paul Johnson.

Steve Martin’s showdown with his former protege Lydon Chircop was without doubt the main event of the night with the MBA Welterweight title belt on the night.

Martin held the edge for much of the bout as he used all his experience to keep at bay Chircop.

For the majority of the fight, Steve Martin controlled the centre of the ring and looked very composed in picking up his shots.

Martin may have not had the highest number of attempted shots throughout the fight but he was very precise while his defensive plan worked to perfection.

Chircop did try to cause damage to his more experienced opponent but struggled to break down Martin’s defensive set-up.

Martin and Chircop gave their best in the final round with both boxers landing some good shots. However, Martin’s precision proved too much for his opponent as he won the fight via a unanimous decision to lift the MBA Welterweight title belt.

Earlier, Gail Diacono produced an outstanding performance on her professional debut as she outclassed her more experienced opponent throughout with a very aggressive display.

Diacono, a silver medallists at the European Championships last year, looked every inch the professional and certainly, she has a promising future ahead of her.

Diacono dictated the fight right from the start, landing one shot after another in a very dominant performance.

Still, to her credit, Sammut never gave up and as the fight progressed, she started to come more forward and closing the gap.

But in the end, Diacono simply had too much for her opponent and shouted in delight when the referee raised her arm to signal her victory and become the new MBA women’s national champion.

Haithem Laamouz produced a very impressive performance when he brushed aside Irish fighter Paul Johnson with a very clinical display.

In fact the former Mediterranean champion came out storming out of the blocks and took just 58 seconds to knock out his opponent and secure a very impressive victory.

Laamouz controlled the centre of the ring with Johnson fighting on the backfoot. Both boxers seemed tentative with little landing from either of them.

However, the fight came to life towards the end of the first round when Laamouz dropped Johnson. While the referee was counting, the Irishman’s corner threw in the towel, bringing the fight to a sudden end.