Nathaniel Collins successfully defended his British and Commonwealth featherweight titles courtesy of a narrow majority decision win over ZaK Miller at the AO Arena in Manchester,.
The contest opened the television broadcast to the Queensberry Promotions event headlined by the WBC silver featherweight title contest between Nick Ball and Isaac Dogbe.
The contest between Collins and Miller was a toe-to-toe encounter, with both fighters sustaining swelling and cuts to the heads, as the contest was thought at close quarters. and at an enjoyable pace for the spectator.
After twelve rounds, the scores were totalled with one scorecard of a draw and two identical scores of 115-113 in favour of Nathaniel Collins.
Collins will now seek to progress towards a third title defence, which would see the Scottish fighter win the British title outright in the process.
Following Collins-Miller was the vacant WBC/WBO super-welterweight title between Hannah Rankin and Ema Kozin.
The opening round saw Rankin attempting to establish her range behind her jab unsuccessfully and saw Kozin being allowed to close the gap by being able to slip onto the inside and land a number of bodyshots up close in a scrappy opening frame. Rankin, at the end of the round, was able to land a crisp one-two combination.
The second round saw Kozin continue her march forward in a scrappy round with Rankin struggling with the Slovenian’s intensity of attempting to work on the inside.
The third saw both fighters allowed to work with the contest-fought at a more controlled pace compared to the opening two rounds. Rankin saw a long right-hand land flush opening the round however, Kozin’s short but often output was the highlight of the round.
Kozin was able to find her range and timing more effectively for her left backhand in the fourt, landing it cleanly on multiple occasions and not affraid to throw with Rankin, often beating the Scot to the punch.
The momentum of Kozin would continue into the fifth, opening the round by trapping Rankin against the ropes and being able to land a number of unanswered shots to Rankin's head and body. Kozin would continue to land cleanly, with Rankin attempting to land shots of her own at close quarters.
Rankin would have a much more positive round in the sixth, taking the lead with her momentum behind her jab and landing a number of combinations throughout the round, with Kozin’s pace having dropped in comparison to the previous five rounds.
Round seven saw Rankin and Kozin would return to fighting up-close, with Rankin producing an impressive work, throwing punches at any given opportunity against Kozin, who was happy to absorb the pressure, attempting to catch and counter the shots of Rankin.
Rankin would continue to push forward against Kozin, finally being able to push the Slovene backwards, who was now demonstrating the much cleaner work out of the two fighters.
Kozin would snap the head of Rankin courtesy of a short uppercut at close quarters with Rankin continuing to push forwards, which was finalised in the tenth and final round with Rankin and Kozin attempting to land cleanly with limiting success.
After ten rounds, the judges ruled the contest a split decsion. Ema Kozin would claim victory with scores of 96-94 and 98-92 against one score of 96-94 in favour of Rankin.
