“George had to prove his toughness there. That will stand him in good stead going forward,” promoter Eddie Hearn said of Liddard.
It is unclear whether Hearn was satisfied with the performance of his fighter, Liddard. Winning by scores of 116-112, 116-112 and 116-112 made it a clear victory, but it wasn’t the clean sweep some thought it would be.
Liddard started fast, landing clean shots in the opening round, including a right hand that caught Denny early. He kept his work rate steady in the early rounds, landing combinations and setting the pace.
Denny settled down after the early rounds and worked at close range with higher activity. Several rounds were close on the scorecards, with both fighters landing in short stretches.
Both fighters landed clean punches during the middle rounds, with Liddard continuing to find success with straight punches while Denny relied on volume and physical work at close range.
Liddard finished the fight with steady work in the later rounds, maintaining his output and landing the cleaner blows in enough moments to secure the decision on all three scorecards.
George (14-0, 8 KOs) completes another title defense and adds a regional belt, with the fight serving as a full-range test against an opponent with experience at the domestic and European level.
Denny (21-4-3, 1 KO) has nothing to offer in power, so he just comes forward and throws shots with nothing on them. What was interesting is how Liddard couldn’t do much with this kind of opponent because he had to be able to blow him out.
Tyler forced Liddard to work hard for his win tonight. Despite the wide scores, it wasn’t as easy a fight as the judges made it out to be.
