By Elliot Foster

Darren Surtees moved to nine fights unbeaten.

The County Durham man ended the challenge of Kane Baker inside two rounds.

The pair clashed on the undercard of George Groves’ WBA Super, WBC Diamond and vacant Ring Magazine title clash against Callum Smith –– with the winner coming away with the Muhammad Ali Trophy and the accolade of being recognised as the world’s best in the division –– at the King Abdullah Sports City Stadium’s indoor arena in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Surtees, who returned to action in July following a lengthy layoff with a back injury, has been sparring with outright British lightweight champion Lewis Ritson in the build-up to the fight against the Birmingham man.

And the Northern Area champion, who had a more than competent amateur campaign, knocked his foe down twice –– with a pair of left hooks –– to secure a sixth early ending after one minute and 50 seconds of the second stanza.

Meanwhile, Zuhayr Al Qahtani moved to 5-0 with a points win in his home city.

‘The Arabian Warrior’, who was born in Jeddah, is managed by MTK Global and was the victor on all three scorecards by 39 points to 37 against Plymouth-based Mohamed Mahmoud who was born in Sudan and is now winless in six outings.

Mikael Lawal got his sixth inside-the-distance victory.

The Shepherd’s Bush cruiserweight was forced to take a few shots against Tamas Kozma, but a single shot to the top of the head of his Hungarian foe saw an end brought to proceedings.

Lawal is now 8-0 after a halt was called after two minutes and nine seconds of the third round.

The win for Lawal means that Kozma slips to 6-7-3.

Kem Ljungquist battered Mourad Omar into an early submission following a punishing first round.

The Dane targeted the body from the off and dug in some hurtful looking shots.

After two wincing and one-sided sessions, Ljungquist was hailed the winner as Omar was pulled out before the bell for the third stanza.

In defeat, Omar lost his second clash since turning to the paid code, while the winner Ljungquist moves to 6-0 with four early finishes.

And Abdulfatah Julaidan kicked off proceedings by moving to 2-0 with a victory over overmatched Czech fighter Martin Kharbel in what was a hastily arranged clash, less than two weeks after his pro debut in Holland.