Mitcham boxer Lee Cannon set the record straight last weekend by beating old rival Tom Knight to claim the Queensbury Boxing League’s novice welterweight title.

The 26-year-old from Mitcham had found himself on the wrong end of a controversial decision in April when he locked horns with Knight for the vacant title.

However, in this return there was no argument about the decision as Cannon emerged from another riveting encounter with a unanimous points victory to be crowned the new champion.

From the opening exchanges of the contest, fought in front of a capacity crowd at the Effingham Park Hotel, it looked like a carbon copy of the pairs’ first meeting.

Cannon was driving forward with bad intentions firing two-fisted assaults on the taller champion, but Knight looked composed under the relentless pressure and managed to land some crisp looking counters to leave the opener too close to call.

As the argument progressed into the second, Cannon again leapt in unloading shots to both the head and body of the heavily tattooed champion, and Knight was continually forced to step back under the barrage of shots as he looked to keep the contest at a range where he was most effective.

As the fight wore on into rounds three and four it was clear that the work rate of the champion had dropped slightly and although he was still able to catch the marauding challenger as he marched forward, it was beginning to look more and more like the belt would be changing hands as Cannon would not be denied at the second attempt.

As the final bell rang out the result seemed a foregone conclusion with the body language of the champion saying it all, and the result was confirmed by MC Grant Waterman with Cannon being declared the new Queensbury welterweight champion by a unanimous decision.

Talking after the fight, Cannon was ecstatic at finally getting his hands of the prize he felt should already be his.

“I went in there believing I should have already been the champion, and I walked out as the new welterweight champion and I couldn’t be happier,” he said.

“Tom was exactly the same as the last time we fought, but I knew I was a much better fighter this time around and once I hit him with some huge body shots early in the fight he went onto the back foot and knew I would win it.

“I’ve had two long training camps to get to where I am today, so now I’m going to spend some time with the family and relax, and see what the league and my team down at the gym want me to do next year.”