Fight night: Sheffield boxer loses English title shot in toe-to-toe battle but Josh Wale defends his British belt

Crosspool's Loua Nassa was knocked down twice tonight, failing in his bid to become English champion.
Tonight's bill posterTonight's bill poster
Tonight's bill poster

But Josh Wale saw off his challenger Bobby Jenkinson to defend his title for a second time.

Nassa, a previously unbeaten Super Flyweight had seemed to be in control in the early rounds of his fight.

Josh WaleJosh Wale
Josh Wale

But he lost his way to the energetic and focused Brad Watson, who collected the vacant title after a hard night's work.

Nassa forgot the boxing plan, indulged in fighting...and came off second best.

Yet he had landed a decent right in a mature, intelligent start.

In the second round, a stance-switching Watson slipped briefly to the floor, but it wasn't a knockdown.

Ponds Forge boxingPonds Forge boxing
Ponds Forge boxing

Then the side of Nassa's head clashed with Guernsey's Watson, who came off worse with a cut to his upper eye.

His nose appeared to be damaged too - but he smiled at the end of a painful round.

He had plenty in the tank,

Nassa bundled his opponent over in the sixth, but Watson got up and then put Nassa down with a great right hand to the jaw.

Josh WaleJosh Wale
Josh Wale

The bell came as blissful relief with the 22-year-old was clearly troubled.

Nassa was suddenly taking the bigger hits as Watson's confidence soared and trainer Ryan Rhodes went ballistic with him at the end of the seventh.

The harsh words seemed to work at first, the Sheffielder put in a more composed performance in the following session.

But then both fighters abandoned any defensive strategies to tear into each other.

Ponds Forge boxingPonds Forge boxing
Ponds Forge boxing

And Watson pinned Nassa to the ropes, for a second knockdown, the referee rightly ending it shortly after.

*Wale, Barnsley's British bantamweight champion, successfully defended his Lonsdale belt, stopping Lincoln champion Bobby Jenkinson.

Wale, 29, suffered a cut above his right eye from a clash of heads in the first round.

But he shrugged it off to take the fight to fast- moving target that was Jenkinson, showing a stronger punching power.

Wale is a tough man who is willing to take a punch to give one.

And Jenkinson suffered a bad cut to his left eye as Wale sought to finish it with a right hand, the Yorkshireman then dropping his hands to show how much he felt he was ahead.

In round eight someone in the crowd threw a chair into the ropes as Wale slugged away at his opponent, an unfortunate, ridiculous incident which nobody needed.

A cracking shot from Wale pounded Jenkinson into the canvas with a right to the temple and referee Michael Alexander wisely ended it, one minute 36 seconds of the ninth.

Wale is now one defence away from keeping the Lonsdale belt outright.

*There were stoppage wins tonight for Gleadless' Dan West, Doncaster's Adam Jones (over Sheffield's Danny Tombs) and a points win for Sheffield's Muma Mweemba and Kyle Yousaf.