Mallin remains the Master

Matthew "Buster" Mallin retained his International middleweight title at the Barnsley Metrodome on Friday night with a ten round decision over Stoke's Jimmy Doherty.

Unbeaten Mallin, now 8 - 0 (2 KOs), took some time to get into the contest, missing with his jab and having to take counters in response.

But he upped the pressure in the third and continued to outwork his opponent until the final bell.

Referee Michael Alexander scored it 99-93.

A full recording of the fight can be viewed above.

The best fight on the undercard was contested by local first-timer Ben Jack Davies and Lithuanian import Andrej Cepur.

In the first round it seemed that Davies was set to enjoy a short night's work as he dropped his foe with a decent left hook to the torso.

In fact, such was the debutant's dominance in the opener, the crowd began to shout "easy easy".

Davies, nursing a cut near his right eye, continued to chase Cepur around the ring and target the body in the second before going for a grand stand finish in the third.

But it was a move which could have backfired as a clearly stunned Cepur managed to somehow unleash a huge counter just as it looked like referee John Latham was about to stop the fight.

Seconds later, another big right from the eastern European made the sweat spray from Davies' brow and the crowd were on their feet as the possibility of a remarkable turnaround presented itself.

Davies, to his credit, never stopped pressing forwards and continued to land the better quality work.

Mr Latham scored it 40-36 and one senses that Davies will take more away from the fight than just his first professional victory. He should have learned that there is truth in the old boxing adage which says a hurt fighter is still a dangerous fighter.

Another debutant getting off to a winning start was Thorne's Danny Mitchell.

Mitchell, a former MMA star who is now trained by Danny Oliver, boxed out a 40-37 verdict over Bristol trier Nick Gigg.

Gigg, in search of his first victory, pressed forwards at times but failed to land much and Mitchell took advantage of the openings this provided by connecting with straight rights.

A solid left hook in the final session rocked Gigg back on his heels close to a neutral corner, but Mitchell couldn't capitalise.

Local lightweight Ben Wager continued to learn as he posted a 40-37 win over Birmingham journeyman Sid Razak.

The 22-year-old from Glyn Rhodes' Sheffield Boxing Centre landed several blows to Razak's body but like most boxers couldn't put a dent in the veteran Midlander.

Indeed, Razak is a master at tucking up and preventing his opponents from finding the target cleanly, as Wager found out.

Barnsley's Jack Churchill is still searching for his first paid win after being forced to settle for a draw with London southpaw Dan Naylor.

Churchill, 20, made the more promising start, dipping his shoulder and firing off his right hook.

However, the home fighter left himself open too often after throwing and Naylor landed his own crisp counters. Michael Alexander scored it 38-38, which seemed fair enough.

Show opener saw Sheffield's Ryan Hardy score a shut out 60-54 over Jerome Samuels.

Hardy was aggressive from the start and never looked in any danger expect for one moment in the final round when Samuels, son of middleweight contender Paul, landed a solid left hook.