Liam Smith has recorded a third successive notable victory in succession, albeit in bizarre circumstances against Hassan Mwakinyo.
The 34-year-old went into his contest with the Tanzanian looking to build further momentum ahead of a bigger fight at the turn of the year.
The opening three rounds were evenly fought, Mwakinyo arguably shading the opening nine minutes, but the closing stages of the bout left Smith perplexed and frustrated.
Towards the end of the third, Mawkinyo went down with an ankle issue before concluding the round with a meaty punch after the bell, a blow which antagonised the home fighter.
Into the fourth, Mwakinyo then took a knee without Smith landing a punch, and the same occurred moments later with Smith hitting his opponent as he covered up in the corner.
Much to the surprise of the visiting corner, the referee waved off the fight, but there appeared to be little choice with Mwakinyo's conduct in the heat of battle unexplainable.
Meanwhile in the chief support, Natasha Jonas became a unified world champion at super-welterweight as she defeated Patricia Berghult.
The Swede, who was putting her WBC title on the line, appeared to take the opening round and had her moments in what proved to be an entertaining bout.
However, Jonas was a clear winner, the Liverpudlian frequently picking off her bigger opponent and her punches carrying enough power to make Berghult become more ragged as the fight progressed.
Although scorecards of 99-91, 100-90 and 100-90 were harsh on Berghult, the former British Olympian deservedly added the WBC belt to her WBO crown.
Earlier in the night, heavyweight Frazer Clarke moved to 3-0 against an opponent in Pencho Tsvetkov who was significantly out of his depth, the fight soon being brought to an halt after two innocuous-looking knockdowns.
Dan Azeez defended his British light-heavyweight title with a points win over Shakan Pitters, while Adam Azim added another first-round knockout to his collection against Michel Cabral. body check tags ::
