Conisbrough boxer Joe Hayden maintains perfect record and now targets longer bouts

Despite occasional flurries from his opponent, Leicestershire's George Rogers, Hayden controlled the ring convincingly on his way to a points victory in the four-round contest at Sheffield's Canon Medical Arena.

Hayden said: "I've followed the route that all pro boxers take in that the first few fights are me serving my ring apprenticeship. But I have been lucky to have had 12 in such a short time and that's thanks to the management skills of my coach Dave Allen.

"It's really time to step up and face opponents as ambitious as me. The first stage is to get six and then maybe eight-round bouts and I'm pretty sure that next time I'm out it'll be six rounds and hopefully quite soon.

"That's the way to showcase skills and techniques I've learnt but continue to entertain and hopefully excite the many local people who continue to support me by buying tickets for my fights.”

Hayden went on to thank his sponsors and maintained his desire to one day fight at the Eco-Power Stadium, home of Doncaster Rovers. Hayden’s manager Allen had every reason to be proud as Hayden's stablemate Stevi Levy won her ten-round EBU bantamweight contest against Dorota Norek. This was Levy's 12th professional bout with the result admittedly ‘close’.

She said: “It’s about extreme hard work and learning so much from training full-time with Dave Allen. It’s the highlight of my professional career and has made me and my little boy so happy as we lifted the belt together.”