Pain game for Ricky Summers to claim title

Summers dropped his European opponent twice in the eighth round to end the fight, despite hurting his left hand midway through the second throwing a jab.

He battled through the pain to force the finish, lifting the vacant International Masters light heavyweight title in his eighth pro contest, writes Craig Birch.

It came at a price - a British Boxing Board of Control suspension until his hand is fixed - but Summers can now call himself a champion before his next planned ring outing in December.

The 27-year-old, who lives in Wombourne, immediately dedicated the win to his family. His partner Jodie Jackson watched the fight, with twin boys Vinny and Shay at home.

Ricky's mum, Shirley, passed away from leukemia last year, with him saying: "I was straight down the cemetery on Saturday to visit my Mum and Dad's grave, having pictures took with the belt and so on.

"It's for my kids, as well, because it's hard being away from them and Jodie when I am in a gruelling training camp. It was an emotional night."

From the off, it was clear Summers would benefit from a height and reach advantage and cornered Psonko at will in the first round.

A flurry could have ended the contest there and then, but Summers opted to stick and move and conserve his energy for the latter part of the scheduled 10 rounds.

His opponent got on his toes in the second and made himself a moving target, with Summers fading for a period after hurting himself.

He was back on the front foot by the fourth and in control, sensing the finish from the seventh as he started to track down Psonko again.

He trapped him near a neutral corner in the session ,where the TKO came along, and threw a right hand over the top that hit Psonko flush on the jaw, forcing him to the canvas.

He rose to beat the count but was clearly still dazed and found himself under pressure as he struggled to regain the senses, a right uppercut putting him down again.

Again he clambered back on to his feet and asked to box on but referee Shaun Messer, from Dudley, had seen enough and waved him off to end the bout.

Summers said: "My best asset is my jab and, when my hand went, I couldn't get the body shots in that I wanted. The pain was phenomenal and I really had to dig deep.

"If that had happened, I could have got him out of there in four or five rounds but he was so tough."

Dudley's Ryan Aston made another statement by scoring his sixth stoppage from 13 wins as a professional, dropping Polish visitor Mariusz Biskupski to the floor twice.

The first punch of the first round felled the veteran, who protested a slip to Wolverhampton's Gareth Morris after going to ground, under the pressure of a right hook to the body.

Aston settled quickly and didn't rush his work even when Biskupski came forward, taking his best shots before knocking all of the air out of him, one minute and eight seconds into the fourth round.

There was no doubting what had caused the knockdown the second time, as 'Tank' stiffened his right hand for a screw shot at close quarters.

Again, the 38-year-old gamely answered the count but man in the middle Morris decided enough was enough, waving him off and pulling him out.

Aston then answered Midlands light middleweight champion Jason Welborn's calls for an all-West Midlands clash, after comments from the Rowley Regis title holder.

He said: "I wouldn't want to disrespect any boxer in any way shape or form and we are still friends, it's just boxing. This is a fight that is making the Midlands talk and we have discussed it.

"We knew, months ago, that this would come along. It was no surprise to me Jason called me out. I want to see what my options are first, boxing is a cruel game and you have to be in it for yourself."

Dudley debutant Ryan Partridge recorded a great result on his paid bow, making first opponent Ben Robinson quit on his stool just two rounds into their light middleweight contest.

Robinson retired claiming a hand injury after being dropped twice in the previous session, appearing to take a knee the first time after absorbing a stinging right hook.

The same shot dumped put him back down but, again, he survived to the end of the round, although he refused to come out for the third.

Coseley's Ryan Corrigan made it four wins from five paid contests with a comfortable win over Sheffield's Ryan Hanson, stepping in at late notice to go four rounds.

Corrigan bashed away upstairs and downstairs with Hanson marking up and blowing hard but he couldn't get him out of there, having to settle for a 40-36 points shut-out with Morris.

Bloxwich's Luke Paddock, the next contender to the Midlands light welterweight title, was left high and dry after his contest with Lance Sheehan was called off.

Sheehan cried off citing a broken hand, so Jordan Cooke was drafted in for a non-competitive bout. As is the case with exhibitions, no winner or loser was declared.

Paddock, at least, got some southpaw sparring under his belt before he takes on area champion Calum Cooper, from Birmingham, for the crown at Wolverhampton Civic Hall on October 24.