A knockout debut for Tommy Ghent

An impromptu Black Country derby saw Coseley's Tommy Ghent arrive into pro boxing with a stunning second round knockout of Walsall's Danny Clews.

A crunching body shot from the debutant saw Clews counted out just after halfway through the second session last night, capping a fine maiden voyage into the pro ranks for Ghent.

Their bout at the Tower Ballrooms in Birmingham. was thrown together at less than a week's notice, after a stoppage on the road for Birmingham's Andrew Patterson left his scheduled opponent, Clews, without a fight.

Ghent, a two-time national champion as an amateur punching for pay for the first time, had been down to box Luton's Gavin Putney, who was scrubbed altogether from the line-up.

So an all-Black Country clash on the bill –renowned promoter and trainer David Coldwell's first in the West Midlands – was booked as the two bouts merged with local rivalry as added spice.

Ghent came to the ring with his older brother Richard, who won an International Masters welterweight title as a professional last year.

Boxing in the same division, 'Tommy Gun' wasted little time in showing he means business turning over from the unpaid to the paid ranks.

Ghent barely stood back and, whatever came his way, he had a reaction for as Clews looked for openings to work his way into the fight.

It was hopeless – Ghent's reaction punching opened space for him to launch a right hook into the ribs of Clews, forcing him to sink to the mat.

Referee Shaun Messer, from Dudley, gave him every chance to continue but ended up counting the fallen competitor out, one minute and 42 seconds into the second round.

Ghent came through the ranks at Priory Park ABC with Ryan Aston, a little way ahead in experience, who took on six rounds in just his third pro fight at middleweight against Sheffield's Dean Walker.

Dudley's Aston last boxed on the undercard of David Haye's multi world title tussle with Wladimir Klitschko in July but hadn't spilled blood as a pro until last night.

Walker's head had roved throughout to dodge out of the way of picked punches but a lunge forward opened Aston up in the third round, with the wound getting much worse in the fourth session.

Nonetheless, two big gashes to the right eye failed to halt the momentum of Aston, whose head movement was excellent throughout, meaning he was barely on the end of a clean punch.

'Tank' comfortably closed out the fight, taking all of the six rounds in a 60-54 points call from referee Robert Chalmers, before heading off to hospital to have the wound stitched up.

A third Dudley fighter, Tividale's Jason Welborn, made it his busiest year to date with a routine points shut out over four rounds with Danny Dontchev.

Welborn turned pro in December 2005, boxing twice in 2006, but now has three points wins this year with a 40-36 decision, from referee Chalmers.

The 25-year-old has yet to drop a round – barring a point off from the official in his last fight – in 2011 and looks a shoe-in for a title shot in the near future.

In the pick of the rest of the undercard, Aston's Chris Truman rebounded from his first round defeat to Lee Jennings in June with the first stoppage of his pro career.

'The Trumanator' took out Italian-Scot Giuseppe Daprato in round five but had sown the seeds in the fourth session, finding success with stiff left hooks to the head of his taller opponent.

The same shot forced a hurt Daprato to cover up in the fifth but referee Chalmers allowed the fight to carry on, but another left hook saw the official wave him off, after 49 seconds of the session.

On their debuts, Birmingham duo John Connelly and Callum Cooper took points wins, over Sid Razak and Aaron Fox respectively.

With four stoppage defeats on a 76 fight record, there's no denying that Razak isn't a journeyman that will just roll over and die, as Connelly got on-the-job training in life as a pro.

The debutant tightened his defence after a tough opening round but traded again in the third round, hitting Razak with a beauty of a left hook that he had left the floor to swing into.

To the astonishment of all, Razak barely moved and remained competitive until the final bell at the end of the fourth round where Robert Chalmers, marking as a judge from ringside, had a close call to make.

Wolverhampton's Gareth Morris was the referee but Chalmers' call of 39-38 to Connelly, who took a close last round, was probably the right one in a great small hall brawl.

Cooper, meanwhile, settled well and didn't let Fox into their four-round contest, taking a landslide 40-36 points call from referee Messer.

Sheffield's Jerome Wilson also took a points shut-out over Daniel Micallef, a Maltese-born Scotsman who was the fourth debutant of the evening.

Morris was again the man in the middle but, this time, Messer scored the contest from ringside.

In the final bout of the night, Birmingham's Terry Carruthers beat Martin Robins, again on points by five rounds from referee Messer, 60-55.

Carruthers wasn't supposed to be in there at all – the Brummie brawler saved the day after Max Maxwell was forced to pull out with a fractured eye socket, suffered in sparring with Cello Renda.

Robins wasn't in the fight he anticipated and never really got going but, with both scheduled opponents boxing from an orthodox stance, could have no real complaints.

By Craig Birch