After watching his man conquer unbeaten middleweight prospect John Duddy, Jack Loew, Billy Lyell's trainer, spoke to reporters ringside about his fighter's performance. Loew, who also trains WBO/WBC middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik, did not mince his words about the evening's events.

"They tried to keep him (Duddy) clean to fight Kelly Pavlik and that would have been murder, that would be disastrous for the kid. He got his ass handed to him by a B-Level fighter tonight, and that is where he is at. They protected him and it was very fair judging, except for one guy (98-92) and I don't know where he came up with it.

"Billy worked really hard for this fight. It is the first time we had eight weeks to prepare for an opponent, normally we are called in at the last minute.  He worked his ass off and I think it showed tonight."

When asked further about the 98-92 scoreline, Loew admitted that he thought his man would lose out.

"I thought they got it. I think everybody is tired of seeing scores going the other way when it shouldn't be like that.  Walid Smichet had him beat, I thought, and he struggled with Matt Vanda."

Loew, who also hails from Youngstown, was succinct when it came to the game plan that worked against Duddy on Friday night. "He drops his hands after every punch. Billy is shorter than him and he came over top of that jab every time and he could have done it all night."

Loew also complimented his fighter for targeting Duddy's body. "I thought that was the best thing we did. I told him to keep staying on that body early and it kept bringing his hands down and Billy went over the top.  Billy followed the game-plan to a tee and he did a great job.  Billy is a very limited fighter but he did a hell of a job tonight."