Brian Rose retained his British light-middleweight title with a unanimous points verdict over Kris Carslaw at the Bowler's Arena in Manchester.
It was a brave effort from Carslaw in his first British title fight, but the judges' verdict went 118-112 116-113 115-114 in favour of the champion from Blackpool.
The challenger from Paisley maintained an impressive workrate throughout and came close to pressuring Rose into losing his composure.
That Carslaw also overcame a nasty gash to his forehead after an accidental clash of heads in the third round added to his credit.
But despite struggling at times during the middle rounds, Rose produced the better quality work and also finished the stronger against the former British, European and and world kickboxing champion.
The stats put Rose 99-80 ahead in punches landed and that just about summed up the difference between the two fighters after an absorbing contest.
Victory in his second defence took the 27-year-old Rose's record to 20-1-1.
"He is the most awkward fighter I have ever boxed," Rose told Sky Sports. "Every credit to him, he is a tough guy. I found him hard to pin down at first, then when he got the cut I think it knocked him out of his stride a little bit.
"But I stuck to my guns and come on strong at the later rounds. Because I am always fit."
Carslaw added: " I gave it my all. I thought I started well, maybe I slacked off in the middle of it, then I picked it back up at the end. But Brian has got a really good jab, an awesome jab and it was hard to get by it. He's a great fighter, all credit to him. He's still the champ."
