Vaughan and Dalton serve-up a classic!

Vaughan distorts Dalton’s face with a right hook. Pics: Manjit Narotra/BCB

In the oven heat of the King’s Hall on Saturday, Northampton’s Ben Vaughan and Bobby Dalton produced the kind of thriller that could grace any Rocky movie.

After 10 draining, punishing round, it was Dalton, gashed over the right eye, who took the English welterweight title. Judge Phil Edwards scored 96-95, Terry O’Connor 97-93, while Chris Dean had it all square at 95-95.

The fact the contest went the full course is testament to the fighting hearts of both men. By the seventh, Vaughan (10st 6lbs) looked near totally spent, yet every time he appeared on the brink of being overwhelmed, Ben found the stamina to swing back.

In a 50 year career of covering our sport, a handful of contests have stayed firmly in my memory because of the adrenaline rush they provided – and the majority took place in small halls.

There was the British light-welterweight barnstormer between Clinton McKenzie and Des Morrison, the up-and-downer between Chris Sanigar and Sid Smith.

And the new…Dalton celebrates a punishing victory

Vaughan and Dalton is destined to join that group because it possessed the dramatic twists in fortune needed for a true classic. Just when you thought one was ready to fold, he’d find something from within his soul to slug back and have the other tottering.

And so it went on for relentless round after round. So intense was the action, I watched some of it through a curtain of fingers.

Some thought southpaw Vaughan had just done enough, I had no doubt the right man’s hand was raised.

Redcar’s Dalton, now unbeaten in 11, said afterwards: “That has to be fight of the year, that should’ve been pay-per-view. I had to fight like that because this was the only chance I’d got to put my name out there.”

Vaughan sat next to him in silence, too fatigued to join the conversation.

Yet it started brightly for the former Midlands champ who jabbed sharply and planted rights to the body.

Dalton (10st 6lbs) simply refused to be subdued. As Ben’s work became more ragged and reckless, he cashed-in.

After going toe-to-toe in the fourth, Vaughan lurched in the fifth after taking two rights. He immediately responded with slashing hooks.

It was that kind of see-saw contest. It could’ve been fought in an old-fashioned phone box.

For the first time, Ben was being forced back in the sixth and in the following session looked “spent”, almost too tired to hold his hands up. The body language in his corner at the end of that punishing session was not good.

It seemed only a matter of time, but, amazingly, Vaughan dragged himself back into the battle. He spent the final seconds of the eighth under pressure as Dalton drove home body shots.

He even took the ninth on my card, although by the end Dalton was back in the driver’s seat and one spiteful right uppercut made Vaughan sag slightly.

Dalton, bruised under the right eye, connected with clean head shots in the last to seal a memorable victory.

Both had left everything in the ring. At stake was a domestic belt, the fight’s intensity was worthy of a world title.

The public would no doubt love a sequel. I doubt the gladiators involved are in any rush to do it again.