Belfast - In the first of three welterweight fights, Wolverhampton’s Conah Walker defended his WBA International welterweight title against unbeaten Welshman, Lloyd Germain.

Walker won the title in thrilling fashion last August by stopping Cyrus Pattinson in eight rounds and had been due to fight Pattinson in a rematch early next month. The man from Newcastle was ruled out after suffering an eye injury and this fight was put together at relatively short notice.

The taller, rangier Germain found the mark with his jab from the opening bell but Walker is used to fighting taller opposition and didn’t panic. He kept his hands tight, tried to move his head and waited for Germain to step into range. He did land one nice left hook inside as the first round drew to a close and upped the tempo in the second, marching into distance and taking away Germain’s best weapon. Within six minutes, Walker had dragged Germain into his kind of fight, walking in behind his jab and right hand and finding short punches inside.

Early in the third, Walker hurt Germaine with a left hook and kept punching until Germain touched the canvas, the last right hand landing as Germain knelt on the canvas.

Walker jumped on him. He dropped Germain again with a right hand but again landed a left hook as Germain dropped to a knee. After the count, referee Bob Williams warned Walker. It didn’t matter. As soon as the action resumed, Walker walked straight to Germain and floored him for the third and final time with a right hand. Williams stopped the fight after 1.33 of the round.

Walker (13-2-1, 5 KO’s) was impressive and dominated Germain (9-1, 1 KO) from the off.