Obodai Loses Commonwealth Crown

Swindon's Jamie Cox claimed the Commonwealth light-middleweight title after a controversial points decision against champion Obodai Sai.

Making his first defence, the man from Ghana appeared to have done enough in a gruelling and scrappy contest to keep his belt.

But the ringside judges at the Hilton Hotel on London's Park Lane gave the fight to Cox by verdicts of 114-113, 114-112, 115-113.

The champion impressed on the counter and landed the cleaner blows, so presumably the judges were rewarding Cox for his aggression and attacking intent.

But as well as being badly cut in the second round, Cox was also guilty of at least a dozen low shots, many of which were not even marginal.

He was deducted two points for the fouls and could easily have lost more, or even been disqualified.

Nevertheless, he was given the verdict and took his unbeaten record as a professional to 16-0, adding the Commonwealth professional title to the Commonwealth gold medal he won as an amateur.

Afterwards Cox told Sky Sports: "To be honest, I thought I hit him on the belt. I thought he was making excuses when I hit him on the body.

"I saw him on video and he doesn't like getting hit on the body, so we worked on that.

"No excuses - I won the fight and I'll fight anyone. If he wants to go again, we'll go again."