Usru floors rival Booth as eliminator is ended early

CITY BOXER NOW MANDATORY BRITISH CONTENDER

- ANDY PHILLIPS

PLYMOUTH boxer Constantin Ursu took less than two rounds to demolish previously unbeaten rival Lewis Booth in their British and Commonwealth final eliminator clash on Satnight.

A crunching body shot followed by a left hand to the jaw of the dipping Booth effectively ended the contest just 57 seconds into round two in a highly-anticipated clash at the Brentwood Centre in Essex.

Booth attempted to get back to his feet after the devastating shot by Ursu, but his legs gave way and referee Kevin Parker didn't take long to wave off the fight.

It makes Moldovan-born Ursu the first Plymouth fighter in 20 years to become mandatory contender for a British title, and he can follow in the footsteps of city idol Scott 'Dynamite' Dann by also capturing a Commonwealth belt if he can win a now inevitable clash, likely next year.

A date of March 30 has been suggested but not confirmed - while Ursu's opponent for a potential British title clash could depend on the outcome of a clash between Harry Scarff and Liam Taylor.

Afterwards, Ursu said ringside in front of the DAZN cameras that he had followed a careful gameplan.

He said: "I didn't want to rush my skillset, I didn't want to rush anything, I just stuck to the plan.