By Elliot Foster
Robbie Barrett picked up the Lonsdale belt with a points victory over Scott Cardle.
The Barnsley man, who is the English champion, outpointed the Bolton-trained lightweight, exclusively live on Sky Sports.
Barrett upset the party at the SSE Hydro in Glasgow, Scotland, with many believing that it was a routine defence for Cardle, who –– with a win –– would have kept the belt outright.
But after a hard fought 12 rounds in which the new champion was floored twice, it wasn’t to be and Barrett was given the decision on the scorecards by margins of 114-114, 112-114 and 113-115.
Earlier in the card, Josh Kelly made a good start to his paid career.
The Sunderland man, 23, who is nicknamed ‘Pretty Boy’ outpointed durable and game Irishman Jay Byrne over six rounds.
And after making it 1-0 in the paid code with a points victory by 59 points to 55, Kelly will be back in action on April 29 at Wembley Stadium on the Anthony Joshua vs. Wladimir Klitschko card.
Meanwhile, Joe Ham won more than the bragging rights in Glasgow, outpointing Scott McCormack to pick up the vacant Celtic super-bantamweight title and there was a technical draw for the same belt in the lightweight division after an accidental head clash ensured that Charlie Flynn was unable to continue against Ryan Collins.
Welterweight Ally Black (6-3-1, 3 KOs) stopped Mark Weston inside the opening stanza, while unbeaten super-featherweight Lewis Paulin moved to 10-0 with one early, stopping Luke Fash in the fourth and final round of their contest.
And with another first-round stoppage, Lawrence Okolie moved to 2-0.
The Hackney cruiserweight, who made a stunning start to his paid career three weeks ago in Manchester, ousted Lukasz Rusiewicz.
“I've still a lot to learn,” Okolie admitted to Sky Sports afterwards. “I was fortunately able to take the punches he landed and take him out.
“My main thing isn't being a power puncher, but landing the shots at the right time.
“It's good, because my first fight I didn't take any punches. You have to learn to take shots –– it's different from the amateurs.
“It's all about learning. I'm back to training on Monday - I'm buzzing and ready to go at Wembley.”
Okolie will return in two weeks’ time, on April 29 at Wembley Stadium, exclusively live on Sky Sports Box Office, as part of the undercard to Anthony Joshua’s world heavyweight title showdown against Wladimir Klitschko.
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