Saunders enjoys routine defence of his British and Commonwealth titles with patient unanimous points win over Hall

By  Declan Warrington  -  dailymail.co.uk

Billy Joe Saunders successfully defended his British and Commonwealth middleweight titles with a unanimous points victory over the durable Matthew Hall.
It leaves the promising 23-year-old two title defences away from achieving his ambition of winning the Lonsdale belt outright – Chris Eubank Jr and John Ryder are both thought of as possible opponents and would be good tests but neither of those fights are likely to be made – before potentially pursuing highly-rated domestic rivals Matt Macklin, Darren Barker and Martin Murray.

The reality is Hall was little more than an opponent against who Saunders, unbeaten in 17 contests, could make a routine defence.

His aggression and intensity was as fierce as that from Nick Blackwell when Saunders won the vacant British title in December but beyond ensuring the champion had little time to rest he could offer little more.
'We knew he was a tough fella and that he was going to be hard. I’m pleased with the 12 rounds,' said Saunders, who was given scores of 119-110, 120-108, 120-109 by the judges.

'I’m willing to get back in the ring and to fight John Ryder again in four weeks.'

Durable: Hall proved himself to be an energetic and durable fighter without ever threatening Saunders

The 2008 Olympian opened with a furious pace. No stranger to an early stoppage, as he demonstrated before at York Hall when beating Australia’s Jarrod Fletcher in only two rounds in September, Saunders proved capable of landing the classier shots while smothering the majority of Hall’s ineffective work.
It has often been observed that a fighter will get nowhere without thinking, regardless of how tough he may be, and if it is by that that Saunders is to be judged then the early signs are certainly promising.
It was with a patience that he began the second round. Hall’s intensity ensured the fast pace remained but Saunders smartly took advantage of this, his superior hand speed and greater accuracy meant he continued to land and he even hurt his opponent with a straight left when another early stoppage was briefly threatened.

Patience: Saunders used a considered approach to overcome Hall

The third again produced much of the same but it was in the fourth when Hall finally had some success in getting through. Saunders landed cleanly with a right uppercut that shook his Manchester opponent but instead of wilting Hall fought back and landed with good shots of his own.
A brawl appeared on the verge of breaking out before the brief loss of Hall’s gumshield effectively took the fighters through to the end of that round, but the pace had again remained high and showed the fight could yet become about who was the fittest instead of the smartest.
Perhaps sensing that, even if showing no signs of not being ready for the occasion, Saunders largely switched his focus to working Hall’s body in the sixth and that, if not the simple fact that over five tough rounds were already behind him, appeared to force the challenger’s pace to gradually slow.

Chasing the elite: Saunders will now try and secure a fight with Chris Eubank Jr or John Ryder before turning his attempting to fight Matthew Mackin, Darren Barker or Martin Murray

The end again appeared to be to gaining shape in the seventh, when Hall showed more frequent signs of slowing and being broken down.

Poster Boy? After the defection of George Groves and Ricky Burns, Saunders could become Frank Warren's big-name fighter

The Hatfield middleweight has a talent capable of being exactly that, but unless Murray loses next month’s world title fight against WBC champion Sergio Martinez, and decides chasing southpaw Saunders is a suitable return, a true test of his talent is unlikely to come anytime soon.
Simon Vallily, meanwhile, earlier capped his pro debut with a comfortable 40-36 points victory over Simeon Cover.
A highly-rated amateur despite his failure to qualify for the 2012 Olympic Games, cruiserweight Vallily patiently and comfortably outboxed his limited opponent to highlight his expected suitability to the pro game by regularly landing with ease and taking little back of note in the process.

Source:  www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/boxing/article-2297316/Billy-Joe-Saunders-retained-British-Commonwealth-middleweight-titles-win-Matthew-Hall.html