Villa fights a ball for Black Country residents

It's a home from home for Howell, who grew up in Aston, and he took less than a round to blast out debutant Sam Wall,

'The Natural' now lives in Rowley Regis and boxes out of Jon Pegg's gym in Birmingham, competing on a bill staged by Tommy Owens in the Holte Suite on Saturday night.

Brummie Cunningham, who has relocated to Oldbury, had to work harder to see off the teak tough Dan Blackwell in a four-rounder.

The Midlands middleweight champion was hoping to make his first defence of the title, but a planned contest with Leicester's Martin Concepcion fell through.

So Cunningham got reaquainted with Blackwell, who he outpointed again over four at the Tower Ballrooms in the second city last year.

He looked to make a statement early on, pressuring Blackwell and digging in his fast attacks to head and body early.

But the Wiltshire hard nut retaliated in the second, firing back with spiteful shots that forced the slick southpaw to box on the back-foot.

Proceedings tightened in the third as Blackwell again enjoyed some success, but Cunningham dodged and skilfully battled through.

Again, it went to the cards where Cunningham's hand was raised by some margin, but he did drop a share of a round in a 40-37 call.

Howell had made it an explosive start to the night by smashing through Wall in the opening contest, a light middleweight affair.

Two knockdowns came in swift order from the first bell as Wall was first decked by a right hand that landed on the temple.

Clearly dazed, Wall managed to drag himself up but it was to prove to no avail as Howell showed some nice moves.

He feinted for his openings and looked to punch in bunches, so it wasn't long before he was on the floor once again.

Referee Kevin Parker had, this time, seen enough and waved it off with just two minutes and 41 seconds on the clock.

A looping right hand, from out of nowhere as he covered in the ropes, showed exactly what Howell can do when the opportunity arises.