COLIN McCASH will be putting on the weight again as he contemplates his next fight.

The Accrington boxer lost half a stone after suffering from an abscess and having to have an operation in November.

In his first fight back against Danny Moire from the North East in a six round contest in Preston Guild Hall on Friday night he was doing okay - until the weight loss took its toll.

"He weighed in at 11 stone which is the lightest he has ever been," said his manager Bert Myers.

"He is usually 11 and a half which is his best weight.

"He was winning the first two and a half rounds and then the other lad started catching him with his right arm and the referee stopped it towards the end of the third round.

"I thought they could have least give him until the end of the round.

"He had boxed superbly up until this point and the referee said he was winning but didn't want anyone to get hurt.

"At the end of the day, his energy was probably going but he will learn from this.

"The operation took a lot out of him and we know he needs to get his weight back up - and his strength."

McCash, who used to be in the parachute regiment, is tipped as one to watch with hopes of a British title tilt in a couple of years time.

The 24-year-old's record stands at fought seven lost three now and he will fight in Ellesmere Port in a couple of weeks.

"Boxers obviously hate having the defeats on their records but Colin is still learning.

"They need to lose to learn sometimes," added Myers.

Meanwhile Darwen's Gary Thompson impressed his manager by drawing his six round contest against a new boxer from Bristol.

"Gary did really well," said Myers. "It was a good contest. He is the opposite of Colin, though, he has got to get his weight down.

"He is fighting at cruiserweight at the moment - he is around 13 stone - and that is too heavy.

"The opponents are too big for him and he needs to lose half a stone. That will make a big difference to him."

Myers' other fighter Lancaster's Lee Woodruff suffered his first loss.

He had recorded five knockouts but, at 11st 10lb, encountered a boxer at 12st 3lb who proved too strong.