Zak Miller's British featherweight title fight with Gully Powar ended in extraordinary fashion at Manchester's AO Arena on Saturday night, November 7, after ringside doctors stopped the bout in the tenth round because of severe swelling caused by an accidental head clash.
The vacant title fight, staged on the Joshua Buatsi vs Willy Hutchinson undercard, had already taken a brutal turn by the end of the seventh round when an accidental clash of heads opened a bloody gash and left a lump over Miller's left brow. By the ninth round, a second hematoma had formed on the opposite side of his forehead, leaving him visibly damaged heading into the final stages.
The injury that changed the fight
This was not a stoppage brought on by sustained punching. It was the result of a clash of heads, and the visual evidence became impossible to ignore as the rounds went on. Miller kept trying to continue, but by the time the doctors stepped in, the swelling had become severe enough to halt the contest.
Ade Oladipo described the injury as one of the worst he had seen in the sport, while Carl Frampton said it was the worst he had ever seen and added that fans had to feel for Miller because he was in a lot of pain. The reaction inside the arena was immediate, with one fan urging medical staff to get him to hospital straight away, while another said they had never seen a head look like that before. One more simply called for a brain scan immediately.
Powar takes the title on the cards
Once the fight was stopped in the tenth round, Gully Powar was awarded the British featherweight title by technical unanimous decision. The scorecards read 96-95, 97-95 and 96-94, confirming Powar as the winner after a contest that had already become more about Miller's condition than the outcome itself.
It was a harsh ending to a title fight that had promised far more than it was able to deliver in the final rounds. Miller's bravery was not in doubt, but the severity of the swelling made the doctor's intervention unavoidable, and in the end the title was settled by the scorecards rather than by a decisive finish in the ring.
