By Matt Bozeat
UPON turning pro, Reece Bellotti said he wanted to be remembered for having fights such as Diego Corrales-Jose Luis Castillo and Arturo Gatti-Micky Ward.
He may be remembered for his fight with Liam Dillon at the Indigo at O2 Arena on Saturday night. The 33-year-old from Watford puts his Commonwealth super-featherweight title on the line against British champion Dillon (Chingford) on a show promoted by Matchroom and screened on DAZN.
It has the makings of a domestic fight of the year contender between aggressive, front-foot boxers.
Bellotti has previously held Commonwealth honours at 126lbs in his near nine-year career, losing the belt in his second defence to Ryan Doyle in June, 2018, the first of five losses in seven fights.
The defeats to Ryan Walsh and Francesco Grandelli were on credible split points decisions, but Bellotti might have walked away after American Raymond Ford stopped him in three in August 2021, a third straight loss.
Bellotti was 30 years old and had – and still has – a good job as an electrician working on film sets.
The simple truth is, he likes fighting and, offered the chance to fight Yeovil’s Dean Dodge for the vacant Southern Area super-featherweight title at two and a half weeks’ notice he took it and forced a seventh-round stoppage.
Bellotti went on to burst the bubble of Jamie Moore-trained Aqib Fiaz for the vacant Commonwealth title last October on the Jack Catterall-Jorge Linares undercard in Liverpool.
Moore threw in the towel in the dying seconds of the eighth with Fiaz under heavy fire having been dropped earlier in the round by a left hook. That was a 14th stoppage win on his 17-5 record for Bellotti. He is strong and there’s weight behind his left hook.
Dillon makes the first defence of the British title he won by outpointing Leeds southpaw Qais Ashfaq, the 2016 Olympian.
Dillon scored knockdowns in the fourth and ninth – neither was heavy – and held off Ashfaq’s late charge in the championship rounds to grab a deserved split decision last July.
The 28-year-old fought from the middle rounds with a cut over his left eye and there could be blood spilled again on Saturday.
Dillon has worked his way up the levels since turning over in 2017 after serving an amateur apprenticeship with Waltham Forest. He’s won Southern Area, English and now British honours.
The blemish on his 14-fight pro record is a 10-round draw with Youssef Khoumari in November 2019, a result that provides a possible form line. Bellotti unanimously outpointed Khoumari three and a half years later.
Trained by Jim McDonnell from the start of his career, Bellotti looks to have the edge in skill. He won ABA titles at bantamweight (2012) and featherweight (2013) after having his first amateur bout at 17 and he will also fancy he can match Dillon for workrate.
Bellotti’s chin has let him down, being stopped by Doyle and Ford. Defensively, he’s been careless at times. Bellotti has had some disappointing nights and he can’t afford another on Saturday because Dillon is fit, strong, fresh and full of confidence. This could go either way but the pick, just, is Dillon on points.
On a big night for Watford boxing, Shannon Ryan, signed to Anthony Joshua’s management company, is another Watford boxer bidding to win British and Commonwealth honours.
The 27-year-old challenges Commonwealth super-flyweight champion Emma Dolan, 6-0 (1) and the vacant British belt is also at stake.
Dolan makes her second defence of the Commonwealth title. She is trained by Carl Greaves in Newark after leaving home-town Norwich to pursue boxing.
Greaves has invested in her, bringing over Halima Vunjabel from Tanzania to contest the vacant Commonwealth belt in Newark last March. Dolan won on points and outpointed Nicola Hopewell in her first defence, picking her off down the stretch.
Ryan, also 6-0 but without any early finishes, has quick hands, a good jab and looks strong at 115lbs. She had a dominant eight-round points win over then-European flyweight champion Martina Bernile last June, leaving the Italian bloodied and well beaten.
That is possibly the best result on both fighters’ combined records. Ryan, who followed that with a shut-out points win over seasoned Romanian southpaw Xenia Jorneac, looks to have too much for Dolan and can win on points.
The Verdict – Another excellently matched scrap for domestic belts.