Willy Hutchinson went all in to put his team on the board early.

Queensberry jumped out to a 1-0 lead versus Matchroom on the strength of its light heavyweight’s unanimous decision win over Craig ‘Spider’ Richards. Scores were 119-109, 117-111 and 116-112 for Hutchinson in the opening bout of the 5-vs-5 tournament Saturday at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

The bout marked the first scheduled 12-round affair for Hutchinson (18-1, 13 knockouts). The 25-year-old Scot was never extended beyond the seventh prior to Saturday. He banked the majority of the rounds in the first half as the Matchroom-promoted Richards lived down to his reputation as a notoriously slow starter.

Richards found openings midway through the fight but was unable to enjoy sustained success. Hutchinson steadily connected with his jab as he constantly switched between southpaw and orthodox stance.

The fight tempo changed in round nine, as Richards (18-4-1, 11 KOs) found a home for his right hand. The 34-year-old London native carried over that momentum in a dramatic tenth round. Richards fought like a man who badly needed a knockout but it nearly cost him. Hutchinson was rocked by left hooks and right hands throughout the frame but rallied back late.

Hutchinson posed and played to the sparse crowd in the final two rounds to preserve his most significant victory to date.

The distance win was worth one point for Queensberry. Each team gets one point per decision victory and two points for a knockout. Team captains receive double points should they win.

Jake Donovan is a senior writer for The Ring and vice president of the Boxing Writers Association of America.

Follow @JakeNDaBox

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