Joe Hughes retains his crown in Walsall

Challenger Upton had the better of the early rounds as his awkward southpaw style gave the slower Hughes problems, writes Paul Webb.

Despite the strong start, it was clear Hughes carried the power advantage and he began to walk through the lighter punches Upton was throwing.

The fight took a dramatic turn at the end of the sixth as Upton was dropped right on the bell.

Some ringsiders thought it was a slip rather than a clear punch and the Upton supporters, who made up a raucous Walsall crowd, voiced their displeasure at referee Michael Alexander's call.

In the challenger's corner, trainer Ricky Hatton stressed the importance of movement.

But it was Hughes, who growing with confidence dropped Upton for a second time following a barrage of punches in round seven.

Both men were warned numerous times for hitting behind the head and below the belt as the bout turned scrappy.

A late rally from Upton in the 10th wasn't enough and there was very little protest after the scorecards were read out, 96-93, 97-93 and 97-91 unanimously for Hughes.

Hatton, who co-promoted the show with Errol Johnson's Black Country Boxing, did have some success as two of his young prospects picked up wins.

Heavyweight Nathan Gorman made a real impression stopping Jindrich Velecky inside three rounds.

The 18st South Cheshire amateur has been tipped for big things by Hatton and he responded to that praise by beating the much-lighter Velecky.

The stoppage came 90 seconds in to the third and referee Terry O'Connor had seen enough, after Velecky shipped around 20 punches without returning leather.

Nineteen-year-old Reuben Arrowsmith enjoyed a comfortable four-round points win over Victor Edagha by a 40-37 margin.

The Market Harborough-based boxer won five national titles as an amateur and got in some decent work against Edagha.

Craig Morris and William Warburton put on a crowd-pleasing performance which saw Shropshire man Morris come out on top, 39-37.

Both men traded vicious body shots throughout but Morris made the most of his size and reach to outwork the experienced Warburton deservedly getting the nod from referee Kevin Parker.

Birmingham middleweight Luke Heron dropped Lewis Van Poetsch and left his face a bloody mess on route to a 40-35 points victory.

Heron, who entered the ring to the Star Wars theme, mixed his shots well and the normally-durable Van Poetsch was struggling with the pace.

A body shot in the fourth sent Van Poetsch to the canvas but he managed to beat the count and survive the round, losing 40-35.

Leon Gower got his professional career up and running on the right note with a 39-37 points win against Swindon's Joe Beeden.

The Burton-based lightweight was made to work as Beeden, fighting for the third time in four weeks put the pressure on early.

Kieron McLaren had a straight forward points win over Liam Richards in a frustrating clinch-filled four rounder. The Stoke-based light welterweight has had a solid 2015 with three straight wins.