Former Commonwealth Games medallist Sam Maxwell extended his undefeated pro record to 5-0 with a third-round stoppage victory over Romanian Oszkar Fiko in Germany on Saturday night.

Fighting on the undercard of Manuel Charr’s WBA (regular) world heavyweight win against Alexander Ustinov in Oberhausen, 29-year-old Maxwell dominated the scheduled six-rounder.

The former Team GB amateur star and MTK Global-backed pro had his opponent down in the first before forcing the stoppage in the third to maintain his rapid progress in the paid ranks.

“I was chief support on a world heavyweight title fight, so that was great,” said Maxwell. “It was a great opportunity. I feel I could have performed a little bit better, but it was good to get the stoppage and it’ll be onwards and upwards in 2018 now.”

Jason Welborn had a welcome opportunity to shake off some ring rust as he recorded a six-round points win over Spanish journeyman Christian Hoskin Gomez (6-28-4) in Bilston.

Welborn (22-6) was fighting for the first time since his victory over Marcus Morrison last March, claiming a 60-55 points whitewash over Gomez as the MTK Global middleweight aims to tee up a big title fight in the new year.

“It’s been a long wait since I was last in there, but we’ve been working on big fights and I’m ready for whatever comes,” said Welborn. “This was a chance to get back in there and I’ve shown I’m ready to fight when something big comes along after Christmas.”     

On the same bill, James Beech Jr boosted his record to 5-0 with a six-round points win over Barcelona-based Nicaraguan Elvis Guillen (9-34-4). The 20-year-old Walsall featherweight won every round, 60-54, in a dominant display.

“I’m delighted to get another win to cap off the year,” said Beech. “I’m loving the pros now. It’s given me the buzz back because I went a bit stale at the end of my amateur career. Now I’m living the life properly and loving it.”

It was a disappointing weekend for Danny ‘Cassius’ Connor as he was retired by his corner four rounds into his headline bout against Maxi Hughes in Doncaster.

Connor (now 17-10-2) was down in the second and the fourth before his corner threw in the towel to hand the impressive Hughes (18-3-2) the victory.

“I got stopped and I was beaten by the better man on the night,” said Connor. “It’s a brutal game at times, but fair play to Maxi Hughes.”

Finally, Bedford cruiserweight Conroy Downer made a successful pro bow, claiming a four-round (40-36) points win over Croatian journeyman Toni Bilic.

The former ABA novice heavyweight champion floored his man twice in the final round, but he was happy to bag some rounds on a winning debut.

“It was a really good experience,” said Downer. “I didn’t have much amateur experience, so this was great to get some rounds under my belt. I felt it was a great performance – disciplined and I was practicing what I’ve been working on in the gym. I dropped the guy a couple of times too, so it was a really good night.”