Sunday 31 July 2016 01:05, UK
Luke Campbell continued his march towards a world title with a decision win over Argenis Mendez on the Leeds undercard.
Despite being floored by a sharp right hand in the second round on Saturday night, Campbell proved too quick for his Dominican counterpart and dominated thereafter to claim the vacant WBC Silver lightweight title.
In winning the title, the 2012 Olympic gold medallist will now hope to land a dream world title shot and erase all memory of his shock defeat to France's Yvan Mendy last December - the first of his professional career.
The Hull southpaw - who had been training out in Miami ahead of this fight - will have been relatively pleased with his start to the contest, finding his range early on, but a quick right hand from Mendez, a former world champion, had him down in the second.
'Cool Hand' quickly recovered though, making it to the bell and took on the necessary instructions from new trainer Jorge Rubio in his corner.
From the third round onwards, it then became a comfortable night's work for Campbell who moved his opponent around the ring and caught him with a succession of punches, showing no signs of damage from the flash knockdown.
In the ninth round, it looked like he might finally get an outclassed Mendez out of there after landing several big left hands that saw the Dominican stumble back towards the ropes.
Despite the one-way traffic, to his credit, Mendez survived and on the final bell, the scorecards were unsurprisingly all in favour of the Hull favourite.
"That was a really good learning fight for me and I was in with a seasoned pro," Campbell told Sky Sports after the fight.
"It was a step up for me and a great opportunity to get back in at the top. Mendez is a top-class fighter and has a lot of skill.
"I was totally fine after going down, it was more a case of me leaning back and being caught off-balance.
"We will see where Eddie Hearn [Campbell's promoter] will take me next, and me and Jorge will keep working and moving forward."
