By Elliot Foster

Ryan Walsh has the Lonsdale belt for keeps after stopping Marco McCullough.

The Cromer featherweight retained his crown in style, exclusively live on BT Sport and BoxNation, at the Copper Box Arena.

Walsh is now 22-2-1 with 11 early after the referee Howard Foster called a halt to the contest after one minute and 58 seconds, as part of the undercard to his brother Liam’s challenge for the IBF super-featherweight title against Gervonta Davis.

McCullough was the WBO Inter-Continental champion at the weight and that belt –– along with the British crown which he now has to take home for his mantelpiece –– is now in possession of ‘Iron’.

It was a professional performance, a methodical one, from Walsh, but credit must go to McCullough for his bravery throughout the contest. He could have stepped on it earlier and got the fight over at an earlier point, if the truth be known, but he didn’t need to.

“That’s for my Dad,” Walsh said after the fight. “But that’s my brother Michael’s belt. I’ve won it and given it to him and he’s going to keep it in his house.

“The pressure on me tonight was immense, I’ve done my bit and everything now is about Liam.”

Walsh becomes the first British fighter to keep the Lonsdale belt since Billy Joe Saunders after his victory over Chris Eubank Jr. back in November 2014.