by Simon Williams
at King Edwards Road

Sam Eggington recovered from an early knockdown against Dale Evans on Saturday night to retain his British and Commonwealth welterweight titles with a points victory in Birmingham.

Evans, who was a late stand-in for the injured Frankie Gavin who pulled out with a foot injury, played his part in a bruising encounter despite the judges scoring the contest 117-110 117-110 116-110 in favour of Eggington.

The 22-year-old was floored in the second round early after being caught with a sweet right hand from the gritty Welshman.

However the man from Stourbridge dominated the subsequent rounds building up a healthy points advantage.

Evans came out firing in the 12th round hitting his opponent with a brutal combination but by then Eggington had already done enough to ensure the victory, taking his professional record to 17 wins and two defeats.

“I haven’t got much to say about the fight,” Eggington told Sky Sports. “Dale Evans came in at 10 days notice and you can see what kind of bloke he is. He put the work in and he got through to the end and it was a hard fight for me.”