Sam Eggington once more rolled back the clock to claim the scalp of another up and comer handing Southampton’s Joe Pigford the first defeat of his 21-fight career.

The talking point at the end of the fight inside Bournemouth’s Vitality Stadium was how long it had taken referee Bob Williams to stop it with Pigford hurt and shipping punishment on the ropes. It was too late, but it did not take the shine off Eggington’s night.

Mick Hennessy-promoted Eggington said experience was key and that he felt Pigford, having his step-up fight, was nervous.

Eggington is only 28 but he’s been around forever and has been involved in more than his fair share of wars. Eggington is now 34-8 (20), Pigford drops to 20-1 (19).

It took until the third round for the action to commence with Eggington landing and Pigford obliging him in the exchanges.

However, it was not an Eggington Fight of the Year classic. Eggington might have been overly respectful of Pigford’s power and Pigford might have been too respectful of Eggington’s ability to go to war. Still, there were signs at the end of the fourth that Eggington was going to try and mount his usual offence with a flurry at the bell.

Pigford landed a long right in the fifth but it served only to wake Eggington, who launched forwards. He caught Pigford with shots from both hands and Pigford’s neck and shoulder muscles relaxed. That would have been the moment for referee Bob Williams to intervene but with Pigford’s head rolling and Eggington steaming in with lefts and rights, Pigford’s corner ran into the ring to get Williams’s attention but the officially finally stepped in and stopped it after 2-59 of round five.

2020 Olympic bronze medallist Karriss Artingstall improved to 4-0 with a steady eight-round win over Hamilton’s Jade Taylor, although she was disappointed with her performance and called it “terrible.”

Southpaw Artingstall delivered the cleaner work throughout. Jade moved well and was competitive but Artingstall’s speed and variety were telling as she went on to win 79-72.

In an anticipated domestic super-welterweight showdown, Bournemouth’s well-supported Lee Cutler triumphed in a hard-fought 10-rounder 97-95 against Nottingham’s previously-undefeated Stanley Stannard.

The opening round was a largely respectful affair with Cutler busier and Stannard looking to counter. Neither were having were having a great deal of success and neither were able to mount much offence. The stakes for the English title eliminator were high and neither wanted to over-commit and regret it.

Cutler, 12-1 (7) going in, was cut by the left eye in the fourth but he was able to score with some crisp right hands in the fifth although Stannard, trained by Carl Greaves, knew his way around the ring and was boxing with an IQ that exceeded his 10-fight experience.

Cutler was still finding a home for his right hand but his cut was worsening and a clash of heads saw the referee stop the action to inspect wounds on both, because Cutler was now cut by the right eye, as well.

Cutler’s straight right was the best point scoring shot of the fight throughout and Stannard worked hard to try and secure the last round but the blood-soaked Cutler was prepared to meet fire with fire and was in their pitching until the final bell of a sporting and spirited encounter.

Portsmouth southpaw Michael McKinson started quickly against Lebin Morales and maintained a fast pace after decking the Nicaraguan in the first round.

McKinson dropped his opponent with a straight left in the first but the bell sounded before he could capitalise. The visitor was under heavy pressure and McKinson couldn’t miss with the southpaw left hook as round two progressed but Morales steadied the ship as the fight went on without ever threatening to turn things around. It appeared that Morales would be around for the duration but when McKinson broke through with more left hands in the seventh, referee Kieran McCann intervened – somewhat abruptly – and called it off, amid Morales’s understandable protestations. Time of the stoppage was 1-25.

McKinson, now 24-1 (4), wants to be seen as a world class fighter. He went nine rounds in a losing effort with Vergil Ortiz last year and he’s certainly levels above Morales, who drops to 19-6-1.