Pat Brown Claims British and Commonwealth Cruiserweight Titles

Pat Brown ripped the British and Commonwealth cruiserweight titles from the night with a shot Ricky Hatton would have recognised instantly – a savage hook to the body that left John Hedges on his knees and unable to beat the count in the sixth round at Co-op Live.

The 26-year-old Olympian, roared on by a travelling army from Sale, moved to 7-0 as a professional, every win inside the distance. This one carried more than belts. It carried a tribute.

“I finished him with a body shot in memory of him,” Brown said, dedicating the finish to Hatton, the British boxing icon who died a year and five days before the fight.

Brown solves the puzzle, then breaks the ribs

This was not a walk-through. Far from it.

Hedges, all 6ft 6in of him, a rangy southpaw with awkward feet and long arms, turned the early rounds into a tangle. He stayed long, stayed elusive, and whenever Brown managed to close the gap, the Harlow fighter wrapped him up and spoiled. For a while, Brown had nothing clean to aim at.

The frustration showed. Brown began leaning in with his head, mauling, forcing Hedges back over the top rope. Referee Reece Carter stepped in, a warning that the fight was in danger of turning ugly rather than decisive.

Then the tempo changed.

In the fifth, Brown stopped loading up on single bombs and started boxing like a man with options. The jab finally came alive. He drove it through Hedges’ guard, found his range, and then snapped in a right uppercut that landed flush under the chin. For the first time, Hedges looked there to be taken.

The pressure finally told in the sixth.

After five rounds of aiming high, Brown dipped low. A heavy hook sank into Hedges’ ribs and folded him to one knee. He beat the count, but his body had already betrayed him. Seconds later, another thudding shot downstairs ended it. Hedges went down again and stayed there, tasting his first defeat after 12 unbeaten fights. Brown walked away with the Lonsdale Belt and the Commonwealth crown, his arms raised, his tribute to Hatton complete.

Both men carried pieces of Hatton into the ring. Brown had shared a gym with the former welterweight world champion. Hatton had also trained Hedges, guiding him to the English title. The fight ended with one of Hatton’s old trademarks – a fight-ending body shot – and a new British champion who understood exactly what that meant.

“I can't just go bulldozing in with him, people think you can't box,” Brown told DAZN, defending the measured approach that preceded the finish. “With John, you're not going to get him out of there straight away because he'll just make you miss and make you look silly. That's why it was a patient performance.”

Patient, then ruthless.

Masoud shines, Jeffers and O’Regan move on

Earlier in the night, Shabaz Masoud delivered a clean, professional shut-out of Ckari Mansilla to claim the WBA International and IBF Intercontinental featherweight titles. All three judges scored it 100-90, a complete sweep that underlined Masoud’s control rather than his need for drama.

At super-middleweight, Mark Jeffers edged past Kieron Conway in a British title eliminator, a hard, honest fight that nudges Jeffers closer to a domestic shot.

Cory O’Regan seized his own moment, becoming English lightweight champion at the expense of Joe Howarth, another step in a quietly building career.

‘Pitbull’ Cruz bites and calls for Garcia

Across the Atlantic, Isaac “Pitbull” Cruz kept his own plans moving in San Diego, stopping Nestor Bravo in the sixth round at Pechanga Arena to retain his WBC interim super-lightweight title in a fight that will be remembered as much for the referee as the knockout.

Cruz started fast, clubbing Bravo with a hook in the opening round as the Puerto Rican tried to clinch and smother. The pattern never settled, because the officiating never did.

Referee Thomas Taylor docked Bravo a point in the second for holding. In the third, he warned both men after a series of low blows. In the fourth, he went even further, taking another point from Bravo for dumping Cruz to the canvas and warning him bluntly that a disqualification would leave him unpaid. The tension in the ring had as much to do with Taylor as with the fighters.

Cruz removed the debate in the sixth. A lead left hook crashed in midway through the round and Bravo hit the deck, losing for only the second time in his career. Cruz improved to 29-3-2 and grabbed the microphone with the same aggression he shows on the inside.

“Hey, Ryan, I'm here,” he said. “My next fight for you. Come on, Ryan.”

Ryan Garcia, fresh from stopping Conor Benn inside two rounds in Las Vegas the previous weekend to retain his WBC welterweight title, had already spoken about a quick turnaround – December or January – with Cruz among the names he mentioned. He has also been linked with Teofimo Lopez, who holds a world title at welterweight, while Cruz operates a division below, so the politics will not be simple.

Garcia answered the callout anyway.

“Pitbull proved me wrong tonight. Let's do this in December, the offer is on the table,” he said, before adding: “I can tame a lion, I'm not to concerned about taming a pitbull.”

On this night, though, Cruz did what he needed to do. He kept winning, kept punching, kept talking.

On the undercard, Daniel Blancas, Marco Verde and Eumir Marcial all won inside the distance, each man nudging his way forward on a crowded ladder.

Brown climbs with a Lonsdale Belt around his waist. Cruz climbs with a microphone in his hand and Garcia in his sights. The next move belongs to the matchmakers – and to a sport that suddenly has two more storylines it cannot ignore.