By Elliot Foster

Gavin McDonnell ensured his upward curve continued after securing a clear win.

The former WBC super-bantamweight title challenger outpointed Stuart Hall to retain his fringe title.

McDonnell produced a career-best performance last time out against Gamal Yafai.

And the experience he showed against Yafai came in handy against Hall at the Metro Radio Arena in Newcastle.

The fight was scored unanimously in favour of ‘Mac’ by margins of 115-113, 117-111 and 117-111, exclusively live on Sky Sports.

The aim now, after a comprehensive victory, is another world title shot for McDonnell, who gave plenty of credit to former global ruler Hall in the aftermath.

"I did what I needed to do against a good former world champion in Stuart Hall," McDonnell told Sky Sports. "It was a good performance but from the fight before there may have been a bit of a shine missing.”

“The dream, though, is another world title shot. That’s what we want.

“The bigger the fight, the better the performance and I believe I’m ready for that now."

McDonnell’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, said that his man may have to travel for another shot at a global honour, but that won’t bother McDonnell, who was recently out in Japan as he witnessed his brother Jamie’s savage defeat at the hands of Naoya Inoue inside a round.