Kieran Smith fought through blood to end his year successfully.

The Scottish super-welterweight, who hails from Greenrigg, took on Vincenzo Bevilacqua in a defence of his WBC International Silver title.

Smith, who was last in action at the same venue back in June, boxed on the undercard of Lee McGregor’s clash against Kash Farooq on Saturday night. McGregor, the Commonwealth champion, takes on the British bantamweight champion in the main event at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow, exclusively live on IFL TV worldwide and ESPN+ Stateside.

Smith was cut twice during the fight, which he won on all three judges’ scorecards by margins of 98-92 twice and 99-91, and Bevilacqua got exactly what he deserved from what was a foul-filled fight as he suffered his maiden defeat.

“It was the most frustrating fight ever,” said Smith, “but I’m still undefeated and just beat a 16-0 undefeated opponent.

“Everyone has off nights. Winning on an off night isn’t too bad, so I’ll rest now and come back a lot better in 2020.”

With the victory, ‘Chopper’ advanced to 16 wins without defeat with seven quick finishes.

Meanwhile, Paddy Donovan continued his embryonic campaign in the pros with a dazzling display against Danny Mendoza.

The Andy Lee-trained Limerick man, 20, was imperious against the latest product on the Spanish-based Nicaraguan journeymen conveyor belt and came out with a 60-53 points verdict after knocking down his opponent in the second round with a left hand.

Pierce O’Leary moved to 2-0 with a straightforward 40 points to 36 win against Chris Adaway.

‘Big Bang’ is a former Docklands amateur who won the Irish under-22 title back in January, has represented the country internationally as well as claiming a bucket-load of underage honours.

And the youngster, who made his debut in Belfast last month, outpointed Adaway at the same venue that the 26-year-old was stopped in by Craig MacIntyre inside three rounds back in June.

Tommy Philbin secured his second win in six months since returning from an 11-month hiatus.

The light-heavyweight moved his record to 13-0 with four quick after outpointing Lancashire’s Darryl Sharp over six rounds, with the referee giving the away fighter a share of one of the rounds when turning in a tally of 60 points to 55.

Craig Morgan kicked off the evening with a straightforward 60-54 win over Edwin Tellez.

Tellez, who has been in with the likes of IBF world featherweight champion Josh Warrington before the Leeds man won global honours, lost the fight convincingly and ensured Morgan moved on to 7-0.

But the night finished in fine fashion as debutant Mark McKeown, who had vociferous support, dominated Jose Aguilar over four, living up to his nickname and sparking incredibly joyous scenes at ringside after being awarded a 40-36 win.