Callum Simpson rose from the canvas twice to take an incredible European title victory over Ivan Zucco at Oakwell Stadium in his Barnsley hometown.
Simpson had to pick himself up from the deck twice as he became Barnsley’s first European champion, winning the super-middleweight crown with a 10th round stoppage.
In real trouble early on, Simpson fought on with a display of will power, determination and sheer hard work.
By the 10th round he had Zucco trapped in his own corner. He bombed the previously unbeaten Italian down three times in succession to finish the fight before a simply delirious crowd at his hometown football stadium that had lived every punch throughout a furious fight.
The stadium had erupted as the local hero made his entrance but was abruptly, if only briefly, stunned into silence as Zucco hammered Simpson off his feet in the opening seconds of the fight.
The first punches the Italian landed – a combination of his southpaw right hook and left cross – shook Simpson and dropped him to the seat of his shorts.
Simpson had made an epic ringwalk in front of those rapturous supporters. If he’d wondered then how he could ever lose in front of them, he had to ponder it all anew as he sat on the ring canvas.
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Watch the Oakwell crowd erupt as local hero Callum Simpson made his way to the ring to face off with Ivan Zucco.
His answer was to rise and charge back into Zucco. He unleashed a blazing salvo of punches and kept up that assault.
Simpson’s shots were getting through and he started to rock the Italian. He drove him to the ropes and attacked him there.
In the second round Simpson landed a long straight shot and Zucco simply opened his mouth wide to bellow at him. The Englishman beckoned him on and continued to hurl more punches into his foe.
He kept the southpaw on the ropes and a big uppercut from Simpson cracked into his jaw.
In the next round the roar of the crowd swelled around him as Simpson kept Zucco under pressure, trapping him in a corner.
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Ivan Zucco drops Callum Simpson with just eight seconds on the clock in their European super middleweight title fight.
From a shaky beginning, Simpson was fighting his way into the ascendancy. But lunging for Zucco he got himself square on, open for a booming left – Zucco’s backhand power punch – that dropped him for a second time in the fight.
He rose and the bell rang to end the third round. Simpson was fighting furiously, but he was taking risks and being punished for doing so.
In the next stanza, Simpson drilled Zucco with a left hook, then a heavy cross, only for the Italian to blast a punch right back into him. Simpson took it but he still felt the power.
Simpson led off with a tight left hook. Manoeuvring Zucco back he let straight punches streak in.
Zucco tapped in his lead right hook and Simpson backpedalled for an instant, before burrowing in with punches as Zucco leant back on the ropes.
In the sixth round Zucco held the centre of the ring and he launched hard shots, looking to stem Simpson’s momentum. But eventually the Yorkshireman bustled forward once more.
He kept Zucco on the outer fringes of the ring as he worked gamely through the seventh round, increasingly marking up the Italian.
The crowd burst into a huge cheer when it looked like Simpson had knocked Zucco down, but the referee signalled it as a slip.
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Watch the Oakwell crowd erupt as local hero Callum Simpson made his way to the ring to face off with Ivan Zucco.
Simpson slung barrelling punches into Zucco’s body and boomed his right into the southpaw’s head. He sensed he was breaking the Italian down and stood off, picking out single strikes.
Zucco swung himself out of position and a left hook from Simpson popped him back. The local man ducked a looping left hook and pressed in, peppering Zucco.
Simpson had found a rhythm, circling Zucco, stepping in to hit, with freely moving arms before cycling clear once again. Simpson roared as he clattered wide hooks round Zucco’s guard.
He would not permit Zucco to escape the 10th round. A massive left uppercut launched home. He hammered the Italian down to his knees. He rose but there was no let-up. Another tremendous uppercut hit him and in the onslaught Zucco slumped down once more.
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Callum Simpson reflects on his victory over Ivan Zucco and who he is looking to face next.
The brave Italian rose at eight. Simpson was waiting for him. He smashed Zucco back into his corner, driving him back down to the canvas. At the third knockdown the Italian corner pulled their man out of the fight.
He had never lost before.
“I was never going to stop, I train too hard to give in,” Simpson said afterwards. “It would have been easy after getting knocked down twice in the first four rounds to give in, but I’ve got that Yorkshire grit.
“I was never going to give up.”
