By Elliot Foster

Jazza Dickens succumbed his British super-bantamweight title to Thomas Ward via a technical decision.

The pair clashed for the former’s belt, exclusively live on BoxNation and BT Sport, but it was the challenger who came out on top after the fight was stopped due to an accidental head clash.

The end –– at the First Direct Arena in Leeds, as part of the undercard to Josh Warrington’s WBC International featherweight title defence against Kiko Martinez –– came midway through round nine.

Ward was having moments of success in the early rounds, but it was Dickens, the former world title challenger returning from a seven-month hiatus after suffering a broken jaw at the hands of Guillermo Rigondeaux last November, who banked the points.

However, the fight suddenly turned on its head, with Jazza showing visible facial damage and Ward, whose brother Martin was beaten by Dickens back in November 2015, began to edge the fight.

But once the heads came together as Ward was pushed to the canvas and the cut above the now-21-0 pro’s left eye opened up, the referee stopped the fight on the advice of the ringside doctor and the scorecards at the time of the stoppage were 85-87, 84-88 and 85-87.

In defeat, Jazza slips to 22-3 with seven early, while Ward added a third stoppage to his unblemished ledger.