Craig Cunningham takes Jason Welborn's title

The two Black Country-based contenders contested the crown as they headlined a PJ Promotions show in Birmingham, writes Craig Birch.

The 10-rounder topped the bill at the Play Football venue, formerly the Futsal International Arena, in Hockley on Saturday night.

Rowley Regis' Welborn, 30, would have claimed a second Midlands strap outright, adding to welter honours, if he had made a second successful defence.

Brummie Cunningham, who lives in Oldbury, instead became a two-weight area champion as he's already in possession of the middleweight belt.

The two set out their stalls in the first round, southpaw Cunningham looking to work the jab from his left hand as Welborn tried to close him down.

Cunningham put more behind his punches as he landed stiff straight lefts in the second, but Welborn later came bombing forward to push his opponent back.

Welborn was the aggressor in the third, forcing Cunningham to retreat and then try to work his way back onto the front foot.

The big bombs started flying in the fourth as Cunningham tested out Welborn's jaw with a left hook, before he was shook to his boots himself by a right hand.

Cunningham switch hit to land two clean right hands in the fifth, before clobbering him again with a left in the sixth. Brave Welborn, marked up and swollen by his eyes, fired back with a stiff right.

Welborn threw hell for the leather in the seventh, but Cunningham's work was the more accurate. Round eight went to the challenger, who kept his guard tight and landed the left hook.

A Welborn onslaught dominated the last two rounds, Cunningham running for cover in the ninth and catching a right hook as he attempted to slip his punches.

The titleist again stalked him in the 10th and last round, paying no attention to nick above his left eye caused by a punch early on. Both fighters saw the final bell of a fascinating battle.

Referee Shaun Messer, from Dudley, was called into play to decide the victor, as there's no rule that an area title fight must be determined by three judges.

The man in the middle clearly preferred Cunningham's clean work and evasive maneuvers to Welborn's high punch and work rate, aggression and command of the centre of the ring.

Messer saw a clear winner and raised Cunningham hand by a 97-94 verdict, a difference of three rounds between the two.

Cunningham's coach Jon Pegg later admitted he had Welborn slightly up, with sections of the crowd divided in their views of the decision. Others had it a draw.

The chief support bout saw boxing's only professional poet, Matt Windle, score a six-round points win over Conar Blackshaw.

There was a bit of needle to this match, as the two flyweights were paired through a war of words that started on Twitter.

'Matt Man' had the last laugh with a convincing points success, for the loss of just a session and a half. Blackshaw won the fifth and probably took a share of the third.

Windle, who represented Warley Boxing Club as an amateur, boxed and moved well and was responsible for the most eye-catching blows, mostly targeting the left hook to the body.

The punching poet is from Birmingham, as were two out of three involved in the other four-round affairs that completed the card.

Midlands featherweight title challenge Paul Holt, a Brummie-born resident of Nuneaton, took on the busy Joe Beeden.

Left-hander Holt stepped up the pace in the second half of the fight, with Beeden taking more shots than normal. 'The Incredible' went on to record the evening's only points shut out, 40-36.

Lichfield's Brad Foster was a part of the night's second flyweight contest, taking on a man more than twice his age.

The 18-year-old, one of the youngest professionals in the country, wasn't even born when Sergey Tasimov made his pro debut in 1996.

It proved a learning experience for Foster against the Bulgarian, 41, but he still only conceded a share of one round. The teenager was also warned for low blows.

Debutant Kane Baker opened the show, having progressed from the unlicensed circuit. He was paired with hard-nut Dan Carr.

The 26-year-old kept his guard tight and looked to advance with Carr, who was cut in the third from a clash of heads, warned for slapping and headbutting. Baker prevailed 40-37 on points.