Josh Padley survives to stay European ruler
Josh Padley was taken all the way by Aqib Fiaz at Sheffield Arena on Saturday night
There was no boxing Brexit for Josh Padley as the South Yorkshire fighter retained his European title with a hard-fought victory over Aqib Fiaz.
The Armthorpe fighter was in no mood to surrender his place at Europe's top table as he defended the EBU super featherweight title at Sheffield Arena.
It proved a close night at the polls though - Padley won on a split decision influenced by a point deduction ordered against Fiaz in the penultimate round.
All 12 rounds had been a gruelling spectacle, with Oldham's Fiaz annoying referee Kevin Parker for low blows and head butting the Armthorpe champion.
It was certainly a test of Padley's chin, durability and resolve.
One judge thought Fiaz had pipped him 114-113.
But the two others opted for Padley, 114-13 and 115-112.
Padley, 30, the former electrician who shot to prominence after accepting a late-notice showdown with world champion Shakur Stevenson in Riyadh, will do well to encounter many tougher assignments than this.
It was the type of entertainment that should carry a health warning.
Padley had to weather some testing moments from the first bell and, as the fight progressed, some suspiciously low shots.
In the eleventh round, Fiaz used the top of his head to try and bulldoze the Doncaster man's face, the resulting point deduction being booed by the travelling fans.
Fiaz winced at the end when the judge's votes were read out - it was a painful night all round - but Josh had edged the contest and retained the belt he'd won in Newcastle in January.
The respect between the pair was evident afterwards, with Padley making a point of visiting Fiaz's dressing room to shake his hand following a contest that demanded everything from both men.
Arena spectators may have been stripped of seeing initial headliners Dalton Smith and Galal Yafai, through injury, but they had got their money's worth with this one.
Another Doncaster fighter, Ed Hardy, had less trouble with his opponent, earlier on the card.
With Smith in his corner, the taller 'Farm Boy' treated Spaniard Jesus Carrasco to his full repertoire, a stream of body and head shots finding their target.
Carrasco, who was marked early on, tried to keep safe behind a tight guard, but the 32-year-old was docked a point after repeatedly holding the home fighter.
Hardy also had a point stripped for ignoring refereeing instructions, which served only to increase his punch output.
It was all getting messy with Carrasco deducted a further point for holding.
Hardy stuck single-mindedly to the task and delivered the punch of the night, a meaty left hook to the jaw which ended the contest.
Later Hardy acknowledged he had the "best coaching team probably in the world" - a nice compliment for Sheffield's Steel City gym.
Smith described the win as "a controlled performance - he did me proud there."
Another Steel City prospect, super welterweight Chris Mulunda, 23, put in a dominating four round display against Liverpool's Connor Goulding.
The Sunny Edwards managed-fighter from Rotherham won every round in his third professional fight.
*Meanwhile Rotherham's Taz Nadeem chalked up a six rounds points win over Bulgaria's Konstantin Aleksandrov in Manchester on Saturday.