Junaid Bostan was determined to not allow Anas Isarti to go the distance.

It was was a race against the clock, but the 20-year-old junior middleweight remained a knockout every time out after scoring a sixth-round stoppage in their battle of unbeaten pro rookies. Bostan had Isarti in trouble along the ropes, forcing referee Kevin Parker to stop the contest at 2:38 of round six in their DAZN ‘Before The Bell’ preliminary undercard headliner Saturday evening at Motorpoint Arena in Nottingham, England.  

Boston (3-0, 3KOs) spent much of the fight switching back and forth between southpaw and orthodox stance. The talented prospect from Rotherham, Yorkshire wound up taking a few more shots than expected, though willing to sacrifice his defense to a point, to land his far more telling blows.

Isarti (2-1, 0KOs) was in trouble late in the fight, at a point when it seemed that Bostan would be forced to go the distance for the first time. Bostan raced across the ring to catch the 32-year-old Belgian with a right hand, unloading power shots as Isarti was pinned in a corner until the referee rescued him from further punishment.

Rhiannon Dixon (6-0, 0KOs) remained perfect as a pro after shutting out Hungarian journeywoman Edina Kiss (15-16, 9KOs) over six rounds. Referee Marcus McDonnell scored the contest 60-54 in favor of the Dixon, a 27-year-old southpaw lightweight prospect from Wigan, Lanacashire who is trained by former lightweight titlist Anthony Crolla.

Cambridgeshire’s Mohammed Sameer (5-0, 1KOs) opened the eight-fight card with a four-round shutout win over Hyde’s Dale Arrowsmith (4-66-2, 1KO), winning 40-36 on the scorecard of referee Marcus McDonnell.

Headlining the show, Maxi Hughes (25-5-2, 5KOs) defends his IBO lightweight title against former IBF featherweight titlist Kid Galahad (28-2, 17KOs), who moves up in weight. Also on the show, WBA/IBO junior middleweight titlist Hannah Rankin (12-5, 3KOs) defends her crown against former WBC/IBO junior lightweight champ Terri Harper (12-1-1, 6KOs), who moves up three divisions after only recently campaigning at lightweight.

Jake Donovan is a senior writer for krikya360.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox