Boxing: Dickson into final as Tiffney is denied a famous victory

Dickson dramatically spilled Bret Parker to the canvas for an eight count in the first round then, as the Linwood boxer tried to storm back, rocked him time after time with his powerful left hooks to grab a 14-3 win and a final spot on March 25 against Renfrewshire's Joe Ham.

Tiffney, meanwhile, lost 6-5 on the judges' scorecards to highly-rated Ham although, on my own card, the underdog clearly beat the multi-titled 2010 Commonwealth Games boxer.

For three rounds, Tiffney stood toe-to-toe with champion Ham and outpunched him in their torrid exchanges.

Meanwhile, Dunfermline southpaw Callum Susans redeemed his pre-bout pledge to dethrone Craigmillar's reigning Scottish light-welterweight champion Jason Easton by outboxing Easton in masterly fashion to register a convincing 10-2 points win.

Fifer Susans now clashes in the 64kgs final with Cleland rival Darren McGinn. Lochend heavyweight Stevie Nichol won his semi on a walkover after his original Garnock Valley opponent, Gordon Woods, withdrew. Nichol now boxes Fifer Kevin Bruce of the Kingdom club in the 91kgs final.

At middleweight. Glenrothes semi-finalist Andrew McKelvie beat Aberdeen Kincorth's Greg Murphy 5-1, while in a non-title support bout, Lochend light-weltereight Lewis Benson lost by 11-6 to 1314 club opponent James Thomson.

EDINBURGH middleweight Craig McEwan is confident he can beat world-rated Irishman Andy Lee tonight at Mashentucket, Connecticut, in a middleweight world title eliminator which is being shown live on American TV channel HBO.

Said former Scottish amateur middleweight champion McEwan: "Andy Lee beat me as an amateur but I've come on a ton under my American coach Freddie Roach since then. Also, I've had great sparring with Mexican Robert Garcia, who recently went the distance with world-rated Toni Margarito. Lee is a very good fighter but I aim to be even better. Having tanged ith Lee in the amateurs, I've a good idea of what to expect. It'll be hard, but I'll win.''