In the main event of a Matchroom show in Peterborough, Lewis Ritson won a controversial split decision against Miguel Vazquez at the East of England Arena to claim the vacant WBA Intercontinental super lightweight title and improve his record to 21-1 (12 KOs).

Newcastle's Ritson looked in trouble of slipping to defeat through 12 frustrating rounds which he later described as an "eye-opener". Ritson got the nod from two out of three judges, with one giving the fight 116-113 to former lightweight world champion Vazquez.

Coming in, Ritson and his team had mentioned the idea of facing former unified world champion Regis Prograis in the near future - but the once-beaten fighter now realizes that he still needs a lot of work before taking part in a world level fight.

“It just depends what you like doesn’t it," Ritson told Matchroom afterwards. "He was tapping me and running away. I was hitting him with the cleaner jabs. It was very frustrating being out the gym a year and then facing that style.

"It was probably more awkward than I thought it was going to be. The more the fight went on the more frustrated I got. It was a big eye opener. We’ve been mentioning the Prograis fight, tonight was a bit of an eye opener that we’re a million miles off that fight.

"We need a couple more fights like Vazquez, maybe not his style. That’s what you get when you step up. We had a hard job doing it. I’m improving as a fighter but I’ve got a lot more improving to do."