"It's a prestigious belt. The world title is what I want to win, but this is what I've got to win to get to that"
Sunday 21 April 2019 03:23, UK
Joe Cordina stopped Any Townend inside six rounds to add the British lightweight title to his Commonwealth belt at The O2 on Saturday night.
Cordina outclassed his experienced rival from the first round and dropped the Barnsley boxer three times in the sixth round to extend his record to nine straight wins with his seventh knockout.
"It's a prestigious belt. The world title is what I want to win, but this is what I've got to win to get to that," said Welshman Cordina.
"He wasn't going to bring anything I haven't seen before, but he's tough and he can whack. He just couldn't land one of them on me tonight."
Shannon Courtenay secured her second straight win in the space of four weeks after outpointing Roz Mari Silyanova.
The 25-year-old bantamweight from Watford, who made her professional debut at the Copper Box last month, again impressed as she cruised to victory, winning every round against the Bulgarian.
Nikita Ababiy was taken past the first round for the first time in his professional career by Dimitri Faltin when he made his UK debut.
Ababiy, who had won all three of his previous fights in the opening round, punished Faltin with body shots and blooded his nose in the first.
The Brooklyn super middleweight dropped Faltin early in the second round with a straight right and the referee waved off the fight after the Finn made it unsteadily to his feet.