Len Whaley COLIN LYNES fell at the final hurdle when he lost to former WBA World champion Gavin Rees in the Prizefighter light-welterweights event at the National Hall, Olympia, on Friday night.

Len Whaley

COLIN LYNES fell at the final hurdle when he lost to former WBA World champion Gavin Rees in the Prizefighter light-welterweights event at the National Hall, Olympia, on Friday night.

Newbridge-battler Rees claimed the title and the �32,000 winners cheque after a thrilling final against Lynes (pictured right), a member of former West Ham pro Paul Cook's local stable.

It was a hectic week for Lynes, whose wife Kelly gave birth to their second daughter Jessie Janine five days before the Matchroom event.

The winner took the trophy from stablemate, former world champion Joe Calzaghe, and paid tribute to Lynes: "He gave me a cracking last fight and I thought it was really close. He was hitting me on the chin and I was seeing stars and wondering what's happening?"

Former British and European champion Lynes forgot his usual boxing skills over the three-round clash and joined in the toe-to-toe exchanges with the tough fighter, who showed why they call him 'The Rock'.

Rees took the unanimous decision at the final bell, but two of the three ringside judges had just a point between the final rivals with scores of 29-28, 30-27 and 29-28.

Lynes moved into the Prizefighter final with hard-fought victories over David Barnes and Young Mutley.

Lynes gained a triumph over the talented former British titleholder Barnes by 28-29, 29-28 and 29-28 scorelines.

A knockdown in the last round against Mutley helped Lynes to victory by 30-27, 28-29 and 30-27 margins.

There was an unhappy exit for previously unbeaten TKO Gym fighter Michael Grant, when he was beaten by Welshman Jason Cook in the opening contest.

The east-London based fighter suffered a serious cut caused by a clash of heads in the opening round, and the referee called a halt in the third and final round.

TONY CONQUEST slammed a three-minute triumph for his second professional victory on the Left Jab promotion at York Hall on Sunday, defeating Battersea campaigner Nick Okoth.

Conquest, who shone on the ABA title trail last season, soon took control and in the final minute, blitzed his rival with a battery of blows which sent Okoth crashing to the floor.

Okoth hauled himself upright, but staggered rubber-legged and was retired by his corner.

It was a good win for cruiserweight Conquest against a 40-fight campaigner who has fought some of the top prospects around.

He headed a win-treble for the Richard Clark-managed, Jason Rowland-trained stable based at Newham's TKO Gym.

Light-heavyweight Billy Slate boxed his way to a points win over Doncaster rival James Tucker for his second pro success, dominating the exchanges with the sharper punches.

Stablemate 'John' Wayne Hibbert made it four straight victories when he proved too powerful for Bheki Mayo, who was rocked with solid punches before the referee sensibly signalled the end.

Former West Ham amateur Nathan Weisse put another win on his record as he tamed tough Duncan Cottier, boxing his way to a 40-36 points win for his fourth straight success.

TKO Gym-trained heavyweight Ali Adams struggled to find his best form against Tyrone Wright (Nottingham), and referee Ken Curtis called the fight a draw.

Unbeaten super-bantamweight Michael Maguire poured on the punches against Sergey Rozhakmens (Nottingham), who was battered against the ropes before the end came in just 1 minute 25 seconds.