Dom Hunt was simply too big and too rangy for James Flint as he claimed the vacant Central Area welterweight title on the Galahad-Martinez undercard in Sheffield. 

Hunt, who moved to 8-0, used his size well to catch Flint on the way in, although he tended to leave himself wide open at times, always giving Flint hope.  

Southpaw Hunt, who is trained by former WBC light-welterweight champion Junior Witter, built a huge lead over the first five rounds and, while he was briefly on the floor in the sixth, it was ruled a slip by referee Steve Gray. It inspired Flint to open up at the end of that round and early in the seventh, but by the eighth Hunt was in total control again and Flint’s right eye was closing fast. 

Flint, who suffered the first defeat in 11 pro fights, put a massive effort in the final round, as he tried to turn the fight around and Hunt looked tired. But he could not find the shot to finish it and Hunt landed a big left hand on the bell. 

Referee Gray, the sole scorer, had it 98-93 to Hall. 

Will Cawley will face tougher tests ahead, but the long-time member of the GB squad turned professional with a shutout points win over Stephen Jackson after four rounds at bantamweight. 

Jackson was tough and brave but the gap in class was enormous. Cawley almost landed at will, but couldn’t completely sap Jackson’s fighting spirit. Referee Howard Foster scored it 40-36. 

Raven Chapman didn’t give Karina Kopinska a moment’s peace, as she was on her from the opening bell, but somehow the brave Polish super-featherweight survived the full six rounds. 

Chapman (now 2-0) was very impressive, whacking away to head a body with both hands, setting a remorseless pace. When she went to the body, she often looked like she would overwhelm Kopinska. 

But to Kopinska’s immense credit, she was not about to go down quietly and threw burst of punches in the second and third rounds in an attempt to halt Chapman’s advance. 

The going got tough for Kopinska in the fifth round, as she tried moving away from Chapman but found the British boxer on top of her throughout. But she worked her way through some difficult moments and reached the final bell, losing an inevitable 60-54 decision on referee Steve Gray’s card. 

Featherweight Stevi Levy was a bit wild at times, but she threw too many punches for Polina Golubeva, of Estonia. Levy warmed to the task and finished strong over the four rounds, earning a 40-36 scorecard from referee Steve Gray to move to 5-0. 

Khalid Ayub moved to 2-0, showing some fast hands in a routine win over Croatia’s Stanko Jermelic, who moved to 0-12 in a light-heavyweight four-rounder. Ayub was always a step ahead and while Jermelic gave it a go, he had little success. 

Ayub’s best moment came in the third round when he dropped Jermelic with a left hook. Referee Howard Foster scored it 40-35. 

Ron Lewis is a senior writer for BoxingScene. He was Boxing Correspondent for The Times, where he worked from 2001-2019 - covering four Olympic Games and numerous world title fights across the globe. He has written about boxing for a wide variety of publications worldwide since the 1980s.