Casey claims Prizefighter title after thrilling night at the York Hall - 29/05/2010

WILLIE 'Big Bang' Casey has won the Prizefighter Super-Bantamweights title.

Casey, who hails from Limerick in Ireland, claimed the £32,000 winner's prize with a unanimous points victory over Scottish substitute Paul McElhinney.

McElhinney got his chance in the final after Welshman Ricky Owen was left in tears after a bad cut sustained during his semi-final victory meant he could not fight in the final.

Final - Willie Casey beat Paul McElhinney - Unanimous decision 29-28, 30-27, 30-28

The final featured Willie Casey but there was a late change of opponent as Ricky Owen, the winner of semi-final 2, had to withdraw due to a bad cut sustained.

That gave Scottish fighter Paul McElhinney, who had won a toss of the coin, an opportunity to claim the Prizefighter title.

Despite being the fresher man, McElhinney could not find an answer to Casey's hand speed, power and work rate.

Every punch he landed was greeted with a huge cheer as Casey was cheered on by the majority of the crowd, including Ricky Owen fans who had been disappointed to see their man withdraw from the competition.

Casey completed a fantastic event by claiming a unanimous points victory by 29-28, 30-27 and 30-28 margins to become Prizefighter champion.

Semi-final 2 - Jamie Arthur lost to Ricky Owen - Unanimous decision 27-30, 28-29, 28-29

The second semi-final was an all-Welsh affair between Jamie Arthur and Ricky Owen.

The opening round was messy with Owen slipping inside the first ten seconds before the referee then warned both boxers for using the head.

Arthur was also warned twice for hitting the back of Owen’s head and was lucky to not become the first man in Prizefighter history to have a point deducted.

By the end of the first, Arthur is sporting a cut to the side of his left eye and that is soon matched by a cut for Owen on his right eyelid.

One of the best punches of the night comes from Owen in the second when a big left hook wobbles Arthur. Owen, sensing victory, charges in to finish off the job but Arthur manages to stay in the contest.

At the end of the second Owen is priced at 1/25 to win the fight and it is no surprise that he gains a unanimous decision as he threw and landed more than his opponent.

However, there is drama at the end as Owen’s cut has got so bad that he can’t fight in the final. He is in tears and has his head in his hands but the door opens for substitute Paul McElhinney, who wins a coin toss.

Semi-final 1 - Willie Casey beats Josh Wale - Split decision 29-28, 28-29, 29-28

The opening semi-final sees one of the most amazing fights in Prizefighter history as Willie Casey and Josh Wale battle it out for a final place.

The pair eventually throw a total of 532 punches in a thrilling three rounds. Neither man deserved to lose and both had given absolutely everything they had.

Eventually, Casey gets a split decision verdict by the narrowest of margins, although the Sky Sports commentary team and pundits had Wale winning by two rounds to one.

But the ringside judges were swayed by the power and precision from Casey’s left hooks and the man from Limerick was heading to the final.

Quarter-final 4 - Gavin Reid lost to Ricky Owen - Split decision 28-29, 29-28, 28-29

An amazing Prizefighter night continued with a sensational quarter-final between Gavin Reid and Ricky Owen.

Owen hurt Reid with the very first punch he threw – a powerful left – and the Welshman enjoyed a fine opening minute as he was peppering Reid’s face including a period of eight unanswered shots to the head.

A clash of heads in the opener left both cut and that seemed to affect Owen.

Before the cut, Owen had looked one of the most impressive fighters of the night but the whole contest turned on its head in the second. A crushing right hook from Reid send Owen crashing down, although he unsteadily made his way to his feet again.

That led to both warriors going toe-for-toe in the middle of the ring that had the York Hall crowd on their feet.

However, to his credit, Owen regained his composure by ending the second strongly and also by putting in a brave effort in the third. That saw him scrape into the next round thanks to a controversial split-decision points triumph.

Quarter-final 3 - Robbie Turley lost to Jamie Arthur - Split decision - 27-29, 29-28, 27-30

The third quarter-final was between two Welsh fighters – Robbie Turley and Jamie Arthur.

Turley entered the ring to his theme tune ‘We know Robbie Turl’ and the boxing world would have known all about him if he had defeated 2002 Commonwealth Games gold medalist Arthur.

But it was not to be the case. Turley believed he had done enough in a tight and scrappy opening two rounds and at one stage dropped his guard in the third and got caught on the chin.

Again it went to the judges scorecards but Turley, who had been very confident he had won, was furious when the decision went against him as Arthur advanced.

QF2 - Esham Pickering lost to Josh Wale - Split decision 29-30, 29-28, 28-29

Quarter-final 2 featured the youngest man in the competition - Josh Wale - versus the oldest in Esham Pickering.

Pickering has held the British, Commonwealth and European titles but struggled in the first three minutes against an opponent desperate to make his mark in the division.

Wale landed 21 shots to the head compared to only four from Pickering as Wale was also using some excellent head movement to be hard to hit. Pickering would have to dig deep and use his experience to turn this one around.

Wale dominated the second, although looked shattered by the end of the round. As long as he was not knocked out in the third then he would advance, as long as he had not punched himself out.

Pickering produced his best work in the third and neither boxer could have tried any harder. With one minute of the contest left Wale picked up a bad cut just by the right eye. A reserve has only been used once in the 12 previous Prizefighters. Wale will be hoping another one is not needed here.

The fight went to the judges scorecards and there was a split decision. Ian John-Lewis gave the decision to Pickering but Mark Green and John Keane went in favour of Wale, who, injury permitting, advances to the semi-finals.

QF 1 - Mark Moran lost to Willie Casey - Ref stopped fight round 3

The opening quarter-final was a cracking encounter between Mark Moran and Willie Casey.

In one of the best opening contests of any Prizefighter, Casey's non-stop work rate saw him claim the opening round against Moran, one of the pre-tournament favourites.

A straight right saw Moran's legs wobble, although he quickly regained his composure.

The second was much more even as Moran was drawn into a brawl and needed a big couple of rounds to advance into the semi-finals.

However, Moran's hopes ended in the third round. A brutal left hook quickly followed by a right floored Moran and although he got up, he was in trouble. Another sustained attack seconds later saw the referee dive in to stop the action after one minute, 10 seconds of the third.

Quarter-finals
Mark Moran lost to Willie Casey - Ref stopped fight round 3
Esham Pickering lost to Josh Wale - Split decision 29-30, 29-28, 28-29
Robbie Turley lost to Jamie Arthur - Split decision 27-29, 29-28, 27-30
Gavin Reid lost to Ricky Owen - Split decision 28-29, 29-28, 28-29

Semi-finals
Willie Casey beat Josh Wale - Split decision 29-28, 28-29, 29-28
Jamie Arthur lost to Ricky Owen - Unanimous decision - 27-30, 28-29, 28-29

* Ricky Owen sustained a cut in the semi-final and could not fight in the final. His place in the final was taken by Paul McElhinney, who had won a coin toss.

Final
Willie Casey beat Paul McElhinney - Unanimous decision 29-28, 30-27, 30-28