On Saturday night, Gary Buckland made a successful first defenSe of his British super-featherweight title with a unanimous points victory over Paul Truscott. The 25-year-old from Cardiff established his jab early in the fight and the taller Truscott quickly became disconcerted.

Buckland, who won the Prizefighter tournament before beating Gary Sykes again to take the belt last year, almost scored a knockdown in the second round with a big right hand with only the ropes saving his opponent. The champion's greater hunger and desire were evident from the outset and easily nullified any threat from Truscott, who was happy to allow Buckland to take the centre of the ring.

The sheer volume of punches kept the man Middlesbrough on the ropes for long periods, and by the midway point Truscott already had the air of a defeated man.

Pleas from the corner to work behind the jab fell on deaf ears as Truscott continued to take heavy punishment, dropping to one knee in the 10th after a left upstairs followed by a body shot.

The challenger showed little inclination to fight on but he did eventually hear the final bell, where scores of 119-109, 120-108 and 118-110 reflected Buckland's superiority.

"The plan was to take it to him but he was a lot tougher than I thought," the winner told Sky Sports. "When I dropped him in the 10th I thought he was finished, but he came again and he's a good boy.

"I was beating him to the jab, and if you do that you've got the fight sorted. I was catching him over the top a lot but he was coming back and making a fight of it."

Promoter Ricky Hatton added: "It's up to the board of control who they put forward for the next fight, personally I would like to make the Stephen Foster fight."