The unbeaten Josh Warrington made easy work of former world title challenger Patrick Hyland at junior lightweight, securing a ninth-round stoppage victory in Leeds, England, on Saturday.

Warrington (24-0, 5 KOs) dropped an exhausted Hyland in the eighth with a well-placed right hand to the side of the head. The bell ending that round was timely, but Hyland was finished and two more knockdowns in the ninth, both courtesy of some accurate combination work, forced the referee’s intervention.

“Patrick is a very tough man and he hits hard,” said Warrington, when interviewed by Sky Sports in the U.K. “I listened to my corner, the tactics paid off in the end and I’m very pleased with the performance.”

As always, Warrington was extremely busy and his precise punching, adept lateral movement and skills kept him a step ahead of his opponent. The jab and the straight right hand landed regularly from the start and Hyland’s head was repeatedly snapped back in the early sessions.

With the rounds going in the bank, Warrington began adding layers to his performance. He worked the body with both hands and displayed excellent variety, continually mixing up his second phase of attack.

Still, despite the decibel level inside the arena, the bout was one-way traffic and there was only going to be one winner.

In his most recent outing, Hyland was destroyed in two rounds by WBC featherweight titleholder Gary Russell Jr. This experience wasn’t that bad, but it lasted longer and was far from pleasant for the Irishman.

If there’s a complaint about Warrington it is, as his record suggests, a lack of punching power. The win against Hyland will serve as a confidence-booster in that regard, as he closes in on a world title shot, possibly against IBF beltholder Lee Selby.

“(Selby) has got aspirations to conquer the world and talks like he’s going to unify the division,” said Warrington dismissively. “If he wants it, he can have it. If not, there’s other routes we can go down.”

Warrington was to have met Hyland at featherweight, but the latter missed weight by over two pounds and was unable to shed the excess.

Undercard

Luke Campbell (14-1, 11 KOs) got off the canvas to claim a 12-round unanimous decision victory over former titleholder Argenis Mendez at lightweight. The official scores were 117-110, 116-111 and 115-112.

Campbell, an Olympic gold medalist at London 2012, got off to a crisp start in the opening stanza but was floored by a good right hand in the second.

That was a wakeup call, but the 28-year-old slowly regained control of the fight with quick shots from the outside and was generally busier in every session. Mendez, who previously held the IBF junior lightweight title, seems to be running out of ambition as well as options.

Campbell deservedly claimed the biggest win of his career to date.

Tyrone Nurse (34-2-1, 7 KOs) retained his British junior welterweight title with a hard-fought 12-round unanimous decision over Tommy Coyle. The official scores were 115-113 twice and 116-112.

Coyle had his moments in a compelling battle but Nurse’s savvy inside work proved enough for him to retain his championship. One more defense from Nurse and he will keep his Lonsdale belt outright and the next challenger is likely to be THE RING No. 7 at 140 pounds, Jack Catterall.

Tom Gray is a UK Correspondent/ Editor for RingTV.com and a member of THE RING ratings panel.  Follow him on Twitter: @Tom_Gray_Boxing