Martin Gethin counted out of IBF eliminator

The British lightweight champion was dropped three times against puncher Diaz, who has been in for the belt, before he was counted out in the seventh round.

A cagey first round opened proceedings, but Gethin opened his account for the evening by firing a left uppercut into the target as the pumped-up Panamanian ploughed forward.

The away fighter stayed on his toes and slipped away from Gethin's attacks in the second, on route to possibly nudging ahead on the judges' scorecards for the first time.

Gethin probably won his only round of the seven in the third, firing hooks with both hands that Diaz gamely answered and kept on coming during Friday night's fight.

It all started to go horribly wrong in the sixth, when a booming right hook from Diaz dropped Gethin – who had never been near the canvas as an amateur, pro, or even in the gym – to his knee.

His nose bloodied, his shorts claret and his eardrum perforated from a blow in the previous round precluding what had been a sustained onslaught, Gethin gamely answered back.

Both let fly but Gethin came worse off in a coming together and was back on his knee from a left hook, although he was saved by the bell.

There was no escape when Diaz loaded up behind a left hook that put Gethin on his knee for a third time, as referee Howard Foster counted him out with seven seconds of the seventh round left.

In chief support, Walsall's Christopher Keane saw his unbeaten record go up in smoke thanks after a devastating counter punch from Neil Dawson in the second round.

After a nothing first round where neither fighter had landed a punch, the contest for Dawson's WBO Inter-Continental cruiserweight title exploded into life during the second session.

Keane had just landed the first blow of note, a right hook that shook Dawson into the opposite corner – but he fired back with the ultimate response.

A hammer of a left hook landed flush on Keane's chin and took the legs out from under him, sending him sprawling through the ropes under fire from further hooks from both hands.

Referee Richie Davies stepped in and allowed Keane the opportunity to answer the count but his feet wouldn't plant as he pleaded with the man in the middle to continue, forcing the stoppage.

Points were proven by the West Midlands fighters on the under-card as three West Midlanders took over-the-distance victories, while Telford's Kieron Gray gamely battled against Ronnie Heffron.

Heffron took a landslide points victory but knew he had been in a fight against the Shropshire slugger, while Wolverhampton's Des Bowater and West Bromwich's Tom Stokes did well.

The two debutants saw off their opening opponents, Bowater by shut out over Scotsman Michael Stupart and Stokes with just a round dropped in their respective four over Bkeki Moyo.

Stafford's Grant Cunningham laboured to a six-round points win but dealt with capable Lithuanian Kirill Psonoko, conceding just a session in a six-round 60-55 points win.

Welshman Craig Evans outpointed Billy Smith without giving a thing back, while Derbyshire debutant Craig Willshee dropped John Mason in both outings for a second round stoppage.

By Craig Birch