Stuart Hall still struggling to come to terms with controversial World title defeat

Hall failed to become the first North-East fighter to reclaim a world title when he suffered a unanimous points defeat to Haskins, but the judges’ scorecards provoked a furious reaction from a number of different quarters.

While plenty of observers felt Hall had done enough to edge an extremely close contest, all three judges ruled in Haskins’ favour, with one even awarding the Bristol fighter a 117-111 success.

That was a ridiculously wide margin for such an even encounter, and Haskins was greeted with a chorus of boos as he paraded the IBF belt around the ring in the wake of his victory.

Hall, who is based in Darlington, was left to reflect on a third world-title defeat having previously lost out to Paul Butler and Randy Caballero, and has spent the last 24 hours listening to a succession of people insisting he was robbed.

“If anything, that’s made it even harder to take,” said Hall. “Everyone I’ve spoken to has been telling they had me down as the winner.

“Jamie McDonnell said that, Johnny Nelson said that, Eddie Hearn was absolutely convinced I’d done enough to win it.

“I know I started slowly and I lost some of the early rounds, but I thought I finished much the stronger and I was the only person looking to throw punches in the second half of the fight.

“I knew it was close, but I thought I’d nicked it. So to then have to listen to scores with a six-point margin was an insult. It’s an insult to me, an insult to the fight, and an insult to boxing.

“The crowd showed what they thought of it when they were booing him (Haskins) while he was trying to celebrate. I went back into the ring and 20,000 people cheered. That shows me what they thought of the decision.

“It’s hard because I just feel like it’s a long time since I’ve been able to get a break with the judges. I’ve been on the wrong end of a few bad scorecards now.”

Haskins was on top in the opening four rounds, with his slicker movement and counter-punching causing Hall problems.

However, the North-Easterner settled into the fight and was much the better fighter in the second half of the contest.  He landed more blows, and had Haskins rocking when he landed a crisp right hand in the penultimate round.

He was the busier fighter in the final round too, but could sense his fate as soon as the scores were delivered.

“As soon as they said 117-111, I knew I’d been stitched up,” he said. “Listen, I know I didn’t fight the perfect fight. I started slowly, and it took me too long to get myself going and start throwing punches.

“Haskins hit harder than I thought he would in the first couple of rounds, but I handled that and got back on top. I was pleased with the way I fought in the closing rounds, and thought I’d done enough. Sadly, it wasn’t to be.”

Haskins also beat Hall when the pair contested the European title in 2012, but having mocked his rival in the build-up to the fight, the champion had to concede he was impressed with Hall’s improvement over the last four years.

“You try boxing this guy, but he just keeps coming forward, forward, forward,” said Haskins. “He’s like a pitbull, and take it from me, he hits very hard.

“I’m not stupid enough to stand here and get caught by big shots. I’m not here to show I’m the toughest man in Britain – I’m here to win fights and get paid.”

In the immediate aftermath of the fight, Hall called for a rematch, but having been pushed so hard at the weekend, Haskins is unlikely to grant the request.

Hall, who will turn 37 in February, will spend the next few weeks assessing his future, and if he is to continue fighting, he will face a considerable battle to return to world level.

“I need to take a bit of time out now,” he said. “I need to go away, spend time with my wife and kids, and get my head back together.

“It’s horrible to lose like that, but I’ve still got my health and family, and that’s the main thing. That’ll always be at the forefront of my mind.”