No prize for Steeds, Scott at Prizefighter tournament

East London hopes Micky Steeds and Bruce Scott endured a tough night in the Prizefighter cruiserweight tournament at Earls Court

East London hopes endured a tough night at last week's Prizefighter cruiserweight competition at Earls Court as Mickey Steeds and Bruce Scott both crashed out in the opening round of the event.

Late replacement Ovill McKenzie collected the �25,000 winners' cheque after Steeds and Scott - who had both hoped to bring new life to their ring careers by winning the event - had their hopes dashed in their opening contests.

Isle-of-Dogs fighter Steeds, who had failed in two British title challenges at heavyweight and cruiserweight, had predicted he would be too young and too fast for the rest of the field, most of whom were more than a decade older than the Docklands hope.

But Irish entry Darren Corbett simply blew Steeds away, rocking the 25-year-old with an early barrage, including a left hook that sent him slumping into the ropes.

Steeds gamely tried to turn the fight his way but the Belfast boxer extended his lead and took a convincing verdict on the judges' scorecards.

Hackney's former world title challenger Scott, 39, had been out of the ring for more than three years before coming out of retirement for the tournament.

But his time away from the sport showed as he lost a slam-bang three-rounder to Buster Keeton, who had lost to Scott in both their previous meetings.

Keeton went on to upset tournament favourite Dean Francis by a first round knockout in an explosive semi-final, before dropping a tight points verdict to McKenzie in the final.