Sean Dodd won the battle of Merseyside in controversial circumstances.

The Birkenhead man got the better of Tom Farrell at the M&S Bank Arena in Liverpool.

Dodd took on the No Limits-trained ‘Fazza’, exclusively live on Sky Sports and DAZN.

But it was stopped at the beginning of round five due to an unintentional headbutt.

At the time of the stoppage, as part of the supporting cast to Callum Smith’s WBA Super, WBC Diamond and Ring Magazine world super-middleweight title defence against fellow Brit and mandatory challenger John Ryder, the three scoring judges Michael Alexander, Terry O’Connor and Steve Gray had the contest by margins of 38-38, 39-37 and 39-38.

The referee, Mark Lyson, stopped the contest after Farrell told his corner that he couldn’t see.

"It was just getting started,” he said in the aftermath. “I'm gutted. It was turning into a good fight and I hope that we can do it all over again soon.”

‘Masher’, meanwhile, has been in with the likes of former British champion Scott Cardle and has also had a rotten run of results before getting back in the win column last month.

“I knew he was tough, I just didn't realise how tough he was,” he said of Farrell. “That was genuinely unintentional and I didn't know if it was a punch or the head.”

Dodd said that the frantic pace was taking its toll on him throughout the fight and that he was glad to see it end early, even though it leaves something of a sour taste.

“Thankfully it got stopped and I think it was the right decision,” he said. “It doesn't really feel like a win when it's cut short but people haven’t seen the end of the derby. This is just the beginning and once Tom’s had a rest, I’m sure we’ll do it again.”

Meanwhile, James Tennyson is in prime position to fight for the British title after winning a final eliminator.

The Belfast man, who stepped up to 135 pounds in his last fight back in August at the O2 Arena in London, when he knocked out Atif Shafiq inside two rounds to win the vacant WBA International title, was in against Wales’ Craig Evans.

Tennyson is now set to face Joe Cordina –– who’s down at super-featherweight when he returns on November 30 at the Casino de Monte Carlo Salle Medecin in Monte Carlo, Monaco –– but it remains to be seen whether ‘The Welsh Wizard’ stays at 130lbs or heads back up to the weight where he won the Commonwealth title last year.

The fight was a topsy-turvy affair until Evans was outlasted and eventually stopped in round 11, with referee Steve Gray having seen enough.

Stephen Smith got back in the ring for the first time since June over six rounds.

The former two-time super-featherweight world title challenger took on Jonny Phillips and moved on with a 60 points to 54 verdict.

And Marcos Molloy kicked off the show with a 40-37 win against Jamie Quinn to notch up his second victory as a pro, while former Knowsley Vale amateur Tom Aitchison got a 40-36 win over Matija Petrinic.