Isaac Lowe, the former Commonwealth featherweight champion, is now unbeaten in 24 fights (three draws) but he had to overcome a bad cut over his left eye before claiming victory over gallant late substitute Ed Harrison at the University of Bolton Stadium.

Lowe is best known as a side-kick to Tyson Fury and had not been in action since winning on the undercard of Fury’s win over Deontay Wilder in Las Vegas 13 months ago. He has talked of the possibility of a world title fight this year, but all those hopes looked in danger when a clash of heads in the third round left him with a nasty looking gash over the left eye. 

Harrison, who had two wins in seven fights going in, had been under the cosh in the first two round, but, encouraged by the sight of blood, came after Lowe in the fourth. Lowe returned fire, landing a crushing body shot. Lowe kept Harrison at arm’s length in the fifth but piled on the pressure in the last, as he hurt Harrison without ever threatening to stop him. Referee Michael Alexander scored it 60-55 to Lowe, giving Harrison the share of one round. 

“All I wanted for tonight was to get the rounds under my belt, get no cuts, no injuries and hope for a big fight in June on the Fury undercard,” Lowe said. “I don’t know how bad the cut is yet, but it shows with not being active. I think my timing was a bit off, I was finding it hard to get in and I was lunging forward a bit. But I got the win. 

“There are a lot of big fights. There is Jordan Gill, he has been calling me out, but I would like the Gavin McDonnell fight if he won the European. There is not just those two lads there is a lot of talent. 

“But I will have another little lay-off now, as if I have not been out enough. But I am keeping the dream and will keep going. 

“This is still my year, the big fights are coming.” 

Carl Fail was given a tough task in his professional debut, but turned in an impressive display to beat Jordan Dujohn on points in their super-welterweight six-rounder. 

A seasoned amateur international, Fail dominated for the first four rounds with a sharp right jab and slamming through with a quick straight left. But Dujohn, who was unbetan in four fights coming into this, came back strongly in the fifth round, as he landed repeatedly with the right and then controlled the final round as well. 

Referee Bob Williams scored it 58-56 to Fail. 

“It was my first fight, there was a lot to take in and I enjoyed it,” Fail said, 

Jordan Reynolds made a successful professional debut but was made to work all the way by Robbie Chapman before claiming victory in their super-middleweight six-rounder. 

Reynolds attacked throughout, and his best moment came at the end of the second round when he rocked Chapman down to his boots with a left hook that landed just before the bell sounded. But Chapman recovered in the minute interval and covered up well thereafter.  

Referee Williams scored it 60-54. 

Mace Ruegg, a 20-year-old super-featherweight, dominated Levi Dunn winning every round on referee Alexander’s card with a 40-36 points win over four rounds. 

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.