Karriss Artingstall defeated Brazil’s Lila Furtado but the Olympic bronze medallist was made to work for the eight-round win.
Furtado had once lost once before, to Artingstall’s British rival Raven Chapman, but had shown her toughness as she went the distance with her too.
Artingstall’s power still got to the visitor early on. As the bell was ringing to end the opening round, the Macclesfield fighter fired a left cross down the middle to drop Furtado on the seat of her shots.
Artingstall was drawn in to exchanges at close quarters
The Brazilian’s corner were angered and complained again when Artingstall landed another cross as the bell rung to end the second round.
Spurred on, Furtado attacked with further intensity in the third round, putting together clusters of punches. But Artingstall brought in her lead right hook, landing that punch round the head and digging it into the body.
By the halfway stage Furtado was increasingly marked up, with her nose bloodied too. Yet she did not yield. Rather she put together determined flurries.
A right hand forced Artingstall back and the Olympic medallist held her feet, letting counters crack in but still getting caught.
Furtado continued to apply that pressure. Artingstall, however, recovered her form and began to lance through longer shots. She worked through to the end of the fight, ultimately taking the bout 77-75 on the referee’s scorecard.
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It’s a perfect start in the pro ranks for Ste Clarke after opponent Vasif Mamedov turned his back and the referee jumps in and stops the fight
“I just didn’t adapt to it very well. I kind of fought fire with fire sometimes, because when I was boxing how I box, I was catching her with the cleaner shots,” Artingstall said afterwards.
“I had a little bit of a tear-up every now and then, which I probably shouldn’t have, but I got the win so I can’t dwell on it too much, and move on to the next one.”
Mickey Ellison came in at short notice to fight Aaron McKenna. He put in a game effort to start off their scheduled eight-rounder, forcing his way forward and slugging the Irishman with a right.
He scooped in hard right uppercuts, jolting McKenna awake. The unbeaten prospect though would ultimately assert himself.
Aaron McKenna beat Mickey Ellison, and then called out Chris Eubank Jr
Gradually he battered Ellison down, with the Darwen man getting more ragged and wild with his swings.
In the fourth round a cross tilted Ellison away. In the following session McKenna just pinged jabs into him and then mixed in attacks with left hooks and a right over the top.
McKenna chased Ellison down as the latter tried to retreat and there would be no escape for him in the sixth round.
Punches flowed from McKenna, landing cruelly, and Ellison’s corner lobbed in the towel to pull him out at 2-21.
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Aaron McKenna has called out Chris Eubank Jnr after his 6th round win over Mickey Ellison
“It’s very hard for me to get matched. I think I need to get the top fights now. I think I’m the most avoided middleweight in the world,” McKenna said.
“A fighter who’s avoided as he says, Chris Eubank Jr, if he’s struggling to get a fight, I’ll step up.
“I’ll skip straight to world level and repeat history. His father went over to Ireland and got beat by an Irish man. Let’s recreate history.”
Steve Eloundou Ntere might be Belgium’s reigning national champion, he might have confronted Jack Massey in an intense face off after the weigh in, but the local man dispatched him in less than two minutes.
A solid, straight one-two shook Ntere up. Massey saw the impact at once and closed in. An overarm right hook scythed down onto the top of the Belgian’s head.
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Jack Massey blasted through Steve Eloundou Ntere, shaking him up with two-punch combination before scything him down with an overarm right
It blasted Ntere over and at once the referee waved it off at 1-57 of the first round.
Ste Clarke, a national middleweight champion as an amateur, made his professional debut systematically breaking down Vasif Mamedov, until the Southampton-based journeyman turned away from the bout and was stopped at 1-53 of the third round.
Mikie Tallon, the local prospect managed by Natasha Jonas, celebrated his 19th birthday by handling Tanzanian southpaw Adam Yahaya, winning a flyweight four-rounder 40-36.
Watch Natasha Jonas vs Mikaela Mayer live on Sky Sports Arena or Sky Sports Main Event