Watford boxer Bellotti on British title success on DAZN at 02

That was the reaction of an emotional Reece Bellotti after he finally achieved his dream of winning a British title following a fight that promoter Eddie Hearn described as a “British classic”.

The South Oxhey boxer was adjudged the clear and unanimous winner of the British Super-Featherweight title on all three judges’ scorecards on Saturday, beating defending champion Liam Dillon, after a relentless and compelling 12-round “war” which has been labelled a contender for the fight of the year.

• Bellotti targeting British title glory
• Bellotti eyes British title glory after winning Commonwealth crown

A proud Bellotti with his British title in the dressing room after the fight (Image: Mark Robinson and Dave Thompson/Matchroom Boxing)

A breathless first round at Indigo at the 02 set the tone for what followed as Bellotti landed the bigger, crisper shots – particularly with his uppercut - but his opponent kept up the pressure and refused to yield, even after appearing to be hurt by some crunching body shots as the halfway point of the fight approached.

The ‘Bomber’ had previously fought for the Featherweight version of the British title in 2018, but was beaten by Ryan Walsh. However, he has made no secret of his desire to win the domestic crown, having claimed the Commonwealth title by stopping Aqib Fiaz in his previous outing.

“It’s my whole life,” Bellotti told broadcasters DAZN when asked what it meant to finally to win a British title. “My whole life built to this moment for me. I always wanted the British title and now I’ve finally won it – and what a fight that was as well!

Bellotti lands a shot on his opponent during the fight (Image: Mark Robinson and Dave Thompson/Matchroom Boxing)

This was Bellotti’s fourth consecutive victory following three straight losses when his career looked like it might be coming to an end.

Asked what kept him motivated during those difficult times, he responded: “To prove to my little boy that I’m not a loser. He was around when I lost three in a row and he thought I was a loser. He now knows his dad is the British champ.”

Both boxers ensured the contest more than lived up to pre-fight expectations and the new British champion remarked: “What a war! What everyone wanted is what we gave them. Probably the difference between me and Dillon in there was I had the cleaner shots. He had a lot of work-rate, we knew that was going to happen, but I knew I’d make it with the cleaner shots.”

Hearn paid tribute to both fighters afterwards, explaining: “A lot of people don’t know but they took this fight at short notice. Reece was ill over Christmas, Liam hadn’t started camp, they had four weeks, they just went ‘let’s do it, let’s roll the dice’ and they gave us a British classic tonight.

“Liam Dillon, I promise you will be back, you will get your chance again, but tonight it’s all about this man. What a story. He was done, the career was over…but they moved him up to super-featherweight, wins a Commonwealth title and finally gets his hands on that. That’s gold dust.”

Bloodied but smiling: Shannon Ryan celebrates her first title victory (Image: Mark Robinson and Dave Thompson/Matchroom Boxing)

It was also a successful evening for fellow Watford fighter Shannon Ryan, who left the ring bloodied but triumphant after winning her first professional belt following a points victory over Jasmina Zapotoczna to win the WBA International Super-Flyweight title.

‘Kaos’ made it seven straight wins to continue the unbeaten start to her professional career in her first outing over ten rounds.

Ryan suffered a nasty cut to her forehead in the eighth round but remained in charge to seal a unanimous points victory.