Sunday 29 May 2016 00:10, UK
Tyrone Nurse racked up a ninth-round stoppage of Scottish veteran Willie Limond in Glasgow, while Conor Benn earned an exciting second professional win.
Nurse recorded the first successful defence of his British super-lightweight title on the undercard to Ricky Burns' world title fight against Michele di Rocco after Benn threatened to steal the show.
Nurse's languid style looked like it could backfire in the opening four rounds as Limond's heavier work-rate began to take over.
The champion's head movement and reflexes were typically classy but his output was never high enough and he allowed his challenger to score too frequently with straight right hands down the pipe.
In the fourth, a Limond (39-5) right hook seemed to embarrass Nurse more than hurt him - the Huddersfield man wobbled but grinned as he weathered the storm. That spree cost the 37-year-old who became a sitting duck in the fifth for Nurse (33-2-1) to pepper with taxing body shots.
The former opponent of Anthony Crolla, Erik Morales and Amir Khan had his nose badly bloodied and was comprehensively out-boxed through the middle rounds by Nurse.
Limond's bravery never waned but he took further body shots in the ninth with no reply, and referee Victor Loughlin saved him.
Conor Benn earned a second professional win in a reckless tear-up with Luke Keleher that went the four-round distance.
Nineteen-year-old Benn seemed determined to demonstrate the toughness that runs in his family but couldn't get Keleher out of the race throughout a wildly back-and-forth brawl.
Keleher immediately jumped on the teenager and bundled him into the corner, with both men absorbing punches in an opening exchange that set the tone.
After failing to stop Keleher (2-6-1) within six minutes, Benn (2-0) utilised his superior hand and foot quickness in the final two rounds to deservedly edge a judges' decision.
"I made a lot of mistakes but that's what happened when you put a young fighter in front of a crowd like this," Benn said. "I gassed out in the first round. A crowd like this is something you have to get used to."
Anthony Ogogo needed less than three rounds to win his comeback from injury.
After a one-sided two-and-a-half rounds, Gary Cooper's corner threw in the towel to award Ogogo a successful return from a 10-month absence.
The Olympic bronze medal winner had seen the past two years wrecked by Achilles and shoulder injuries but looked sharp in his ninth professional bout, wobbling Cooper in the closing moments of the second before the finish came amid a flurry of punches in the third.
"That was a small glimpse of my true ability and potential," Ogogo said. "I'm ready to move on and show the world how good I can be.
"[The middleweight division] are terracotta soldiers, I'm going to blitz one then the next and then the next."
Tommy McCarthy counter-punched his way to a 10-round unanimous decision win over Jon-Lewis Dickinson.
Belfast's McCarthy put Dickinson over in the sixth as he extended his record to 9-0 in an eliminator for the British cruiserweight title, last held by Ovill McKenzie.
Scott Cardle was bloodied but still did enough to win a six-round decision against Ivain Njegac.
The British lightweight champion was occasionally drawn into an ugly tussle and sustained a cut above his right eye, but was too good for the travelling Croatian and remains unbeaten in 21 fights.
