Thrilling wins for Sheffield and Doncaster boxers

The Shiregreen, Sheffield southpaw brutally knocked out Durham leftie Anthony Hardy only seconds into the first round, on a Dennis Hobson show at the Magna Centre, Rotherham.

The headline fight didn't start until 11.15pm, but the style of his victory was worth waiting for.

The 24-year-old Ryan Rhodes fighter sparked his slightly younger rival out with a clean blow to the chin.

Officials were soon in the ring to ensure the north east man was not seriously hurt.

It was an explosive end to a four-hour show which was briefly interrupted by crowd disorder.

The evening included a winning return to the wing, also, for another fancied Sheffield boxer, Waleed Din.

He had lost a Commonwealth title fight at the same venue last year, but outpointed Bulgarian Stefan Slavchev.

Dom Ingle-trained flyweight Kyle Yousaf also had a comfortable victory over 41-year-old veteran Sergey Tasimov.

Meanwhile in Northern Ireland, Rossington super featherweight southpaw Maxi Hughes shocked the home crowd with a win over James Fryers in Belfast.

The 25-year-old won on a split decision, earning the right to be the mandatory challenger for the British title held by Liam Walsh.

ROTHERHAM RESULTS

Middleweight Reece Cartwright bt Sergei Melis

Featherweight Zahid Hussain bt Dmitrijs Gutmans

Super Featherweight Razaq Najib bt Luke Fash

Bantamweight Ramzy Nassa bt Brett Fidoe

Bantamweight Osman Aslam bt Craig Derbyshire

Super Lightweight Leon Field bt Kristian Laight

Bantamweight Loua Nassa bt Jordan Turner

Super Bantamweight Tom Bell bt Scott McCormack