Future bright for trio after Civic victories

The main event saw Tommy Langford retain his WBO Inter-Continental title with the useful points scalp of Christian Fabian Rios, writes Craig Birch.

The Devon-born Brummie, cheered on by an ardent bunch of fellow West Brom fans, showed the skills of a champion to record a comfortable points win over the tough Argentinian.

Then Dudley's Ryan Aston scaled the turnbuckles for joy, after a fourth round stoppage over Nathan Graham made him a top contender to Navid Mansouri's English light middleweight title.

'Tank' exorcised the demons of his controversial points defeat to Jason Welborn for the Midlands crown at the same venue - with the same referee Terry O'Connor stepping in for the finish.

Reigning area super middleweight boss Andrew Robinson, from Redditch, closed the show with a six-round points landslide over rock-hard Lithuanian Deividas Sajauka.

A keep-busy fight for 'D'Animal' got him ready for bigger and better tests, with suggestions he'll stay at middleweight, where he boxed here, and call Langford out.

Should that come to pass, it would give BoxNation every reason to return to the Midlands before the year is out to screen a derby battle, possibly at a big hall in Birmingham.

Frank Warren's television channel started rolling for 7pm, with his fighters very much adding to the card promoted by Paul 'PJ' Rowson.

Dudley debutant Josh Miller, another pro product of Priory Park Boxing Club, had already got the bill up and running with an impressive performance.

'The Jackal' dominated his super middle four-rounder with gatekeeper Iain Jackson, who had knocked out Matthew Parr in his last fight.

But Miller was in no mood to let him gain any confidence here, backing him up to pepper him with the jab and then pick his shots.

Jackson had to shake off a couple of right hands to the head and suck it up when tagged to the body. He saw the finish, though. Referee Kevin Parker raised Miller's hand by 40-36 shut out.

Television viewers didn't have to wait long to see stoppages, with Brummie super bantam Raza Hamza and Leicester lightweight Lyon Woodstock both recording first round TKOs.

Hamza removed Krisztian Lakatos with a left hook to the body after just 22 seconds while Woodstock floored another Hungarian, Ignac Kassai, three times inside two minutes.

Lancashire's Macaulay McGowan stuck to his boxing as former Midlands champion Kevin McCauley, who lives in Stourbridge, tried to rough him up.

The boxing centurion, in his 122nd pro bout at age 36, wasn't troubled or hurt and took McGowan the distance, losing 60-54 with Parker after six.

An exciting light welter eight-rounder between Yorkshire's Josh Leather and Worcester's Michael Mooney ended at the halfway point.

A right hand to the head floored Mooney in the fourth, he beat the count but didn't truly recover. Parker stepped in after the onslaught resumed.

Rowley Regis' Tyler Denny took part in his third pro contest at super middle and scored his first knockdown, over late replacement James Conroy.

Conroy sunk to the mat under a flurry of punches, after a right hook straight through the guard wobbled him at the end of the second.

The bell saved him in that instance and Denny stalked him from there, with Conroy using his bigger girth to hold on and smother his work.

It went to the cards, where Parker had it 40-35 to Denny, taking into the account the knockdown that he will have wish happened mid-round.

The fight night's first of three 10-rounders lasted 30 seconds, with former world champion Paul Butler displaying his power.

The former British, Commonwealth and IBF title holder, who hovers between super fly and bantam, threw a lethal left hook to the body that saw Hector Rolando Guzman counted out.

That brought out Netherton's Les Byfield, another from Priory Park, for a lightweight clash with Michael Stupart that took place at the third time of asking.

And this time 'the Minefield,' who lost his pro debut before redressing the balance with a victory, displayed a marked improvement.

First he sliced Stupart open by the left eye with a right hook in the first before, with blood pouring from the wound, he dropped him with a big right hand over the top come the second round.

Stupart could barely see as blood poured into his left eye by the third, when the doctor was called to the ring apron to examine the wound. Had cuts man Bob Plant not worked so well on it, he never would have lasted.

He was allowed to box but struggled to fend off Byfield, who picked his shots at will but couldn't force an early finish. He will, however, be very satisfied with a 40-35 points success with Parker.

That brought us onto the main event, where Langford put his belt up-for-grabs for the first time against challenger Rios.

His followers went crazy when he emerged to the strains of 'the Liquidator,' before going toe-to-toe with national champion Rios.

Langford promised to show how he can put his punches together and he didn't waste any time, trapping Rios in the ropes for one onslaught with the bout still in the first.

Rios kept throwing back but his game-plan didn't amount to much, as he looked to work the body from the southpaw stance.

He looked to be running out of steam when he was fanned by his coach with the towel between rounds, with Langford's downstairs attacks slowing him down as he nicked the middle rounds.

Rios took to showboating in the sixth and dropped his hands, only to walk straight into a right hook to the mush when action resumed.

Langford continued to step off and make the room to slip in the body shots under his guard, with left Rios wincing but gamely hanging on.

The three judges were called into play when the final sounded.

All were well in favour of Langford, Dave Parris and Steve Gray by 100-90 landslide. Phil Edwards had it 100-91.

Langford dropped just a share of the round with the three judges, underlining the level of control he'd enjoyed. Mr O'Connor was the man in the middle.

Aston then took to the ring for his contest with Graham, who wouldn't have landed a title shot even in victory after coming in 3lb overweight.

'Tank' worked to his strengths as a slippery left-hander, with Graham settling into keeping the right hand loaded behind a tight guard.

That all went out of the window when a left hand sent Graham back-peddling as Aston jumped on him, throwing unanswered punch after punch in the corner until O'Connor stepped in.

An 11-fight line-up closed with Robinson's shut out of Sajauka, who showed why he's never been stopped in 21 paid outings.

But he even he had to concede he'd been tagged with a good one as he absorbed a right uppercut to the chin in the second, but he survived.

It was an escape of Houdini proportions in the fifth with Robinson raining down hooks as he covered up for dear life near to the corner, but he ducked down and managed to break free.

The expected points call of 50-54 was the final result, with Mr Parker officiating the last match.