Glenn Foot is Prizefighter victor at the Civic

Matchroom Sport brought the third instalment at welterweight of the eight-man, one-night, three-rounds-a-fight competition back to the Civic after the success of last February's debut.

Stafford's Rob Hunt, Stourbridge duo Sam Eggington and Steven Pearce, as well as Birmingham's Calum Cooper, went out in the first round but banked £4,000 for boxing.

Saturday night's show attracted a sell-out crowd to the Civic and the Sky Sports cameras with Hunt first on in a tough draw - the bookies favourite Mark Thompson.

Hunt was under pressure from the opening bell and was marked by the eye by the end of the first round as Thompson put it on him, forcing his opponent to bob and weave.

A flush left hook to Hunt's jaw pegged him into the ropes and forced to battle his way back out. From there, he elected to get on his toes and becoming a moving target.

But he remained far too easy to hit, his head remaining static, taking another left flush near the ropes, before firing back with a left to the body in the ensuing trade-off.

It was Thompson's head that forced the finish, accidentally sticking the nut on Hunt while trying to deliver a left hook in the third round and causing a cut underneath the right eye.

Referee Phil Edwards summoned the doctor to the ring, who immediately called for the bell ruling Hunt unfit to continue. He had complained throughout about Thompson's use of the head.

In the second fight, Stourbridge's Sam Eggington became the youngest-ever fighter to appear in Prizefighter, beating Patrick Mendy's record by 180 days, in an exciting battle with Dale Evans.

The 19-year-old may have been a two-time national champion as an amateur for Warley ABC, winning the Clubs for Young People and ABA Novice titles, but he's had just three pro fights.

The undefeated teenager was forced to learn the hard way and showed his mettle when he was hit harder then he ever has been in the paid ranks, which nearly bowled him over.

Eggington walked straight on to a hammer of a right hook and was perilously close to being dumped on the deck, but gamely hit the front foot when hurt and fought back to get out of trouble.

A big right hand among several retribution attacks was the pick of Eggington's work but he started to miss the target in the third and last round, handing the initiative back to Evans.

All three judges ruled in favour of Evans, one by a whitewash of 30-27, while the other two had the winner by two rounds to Eggington's one, but it was a valiant effort from 'Sam the Man.'

Fight number three pitted Cooper against Chad Gaynor and the Brummie took a real pasting from the Yorkshireman, but he nearly made it to the end of the first round.

Top his credit, Cooper stood his ground and would not go down as blows rained in from everywhere as he trained to cover up, but referee Mark Green had seen enough and stepped in.

The last of the first round fights pitted Pearce against the dangerous Glenn Foot, whose three first round stoppages on his record made him a feared opponent.

An even first round led to Pearce to believe that working at close quarters and attacking to the body - his usual course of action - but he came undone in the second session.

Pearce dropped his head as he looked to punch downstairs as Foot launched a right hook, which went over his head and struck him around the back of the skull.

That caused a knockdown and should possibly have been deemed an illegal punch and left Pearce in no real fit state to continue, but he managed to answer the count.

He was back on the canvas through a slip moments later and was in trouble again when he was knocked into the ropes, Foot letting fly until referee Steve Gray stopped Pearce on his feet.

The first semi-final pitted Thompson against Evans and it was the Welshman, conqueror of Eggington in the first round, who prevailed on points, with all three judges ruling 29-28 in his favour.

An eight-round bantamweight came next pitting Birmingham's Kal Yafai, Olympian and vastly-talented amateur, against Mexican import Gonzalo Garcia.

Garcia gave up at the end of fourth round after getting short shrift from the Brummie's lightening-quick attacks, retiring on his stool after refusing to come out for the fifth.

Then the last final place was up-for-grabs when Gaynor went up against Foot and appeared to be in the lead going into the final round.

But Foot upped his work-rate in the last session to make sure although it proved he had little to worry about with the judges - only one had him dropping a round as he won on points.

All that was left was the final and it proved to be up there with the best Prizefighter finals to date as Foot and Evans battled it out to be the outright victor.

A see-saw and exciting slug-fest ensued and it was Foot who took a razor-thin split decision to become Prizefighter champion, all by points scores of 29-28.

By Craig Birch