ADY Lewis's hopes of taking the IBO bantamweight title were cruelly smashed against impressive champion Jose Sanjuanelo at Wythenshawe Forum.

Bury's 'Mighty Atom' was counted out 49 seconds into the second round against the tough Colombian who looked a class apart.

The plucky challenger was livid that Derby referee Paul Thomas called a halt to proceedings after a stunning left floored him.

But in fairness it was clear that the experienced official was saving the brave Lewis from further punishment against a top class opponent. whose power and ability shone through.

"Sanjuanelo's a decent fighter, I got hit with a good shot and went down but as soon as I got up my head was clear and I was ready to carry on," claimed a hugely disappointed Lewis.

"I've been put down early before and gone on to win fights and I don't see the difference in this case.

"He was strong and awkward and I don't like southpaws anyway, but I didn't get the time to find out just what a good fighter he is."

Maybe it is a good job he did not.

Lewis is Britain's smallest boxer at 4 foot 10 inches and what he lacks in height he makes up with in heart but it was always going to take more than that against the Colombian. In a one-sided first round the Bury man traded with the champion too often and was caught by some fiercesome body shots by the man they call 'El Tigre' .

The formlines pointed to a victory for the champion in his first defence - Sanjuanelo won the crown by beating Nicky Booth who defeated Lewis in February - and less than a minute of the second round they were proved right.

A right jab was followed up by an awesome straight left through Lewis's guard that buckled his legs and left him sprawling on the canvas.

Sanjuanelo showed in the Booth fight just what a heavy-handed opponent he was and it was a big disappointment to the Lewis camp that their man discovered the same so early in the bout.

"We needed it to go more rounds and get further into the fight," explained Lewis's manager and coach Jack Doughty.

"I felt if we'd have been in there in the middle round we'd have had a chance to get to the end of it.

"We worked so hard on Ady's fitness he could have gone 20 rounds but catching heavy shots like that makes a big difference.

"Our plan was for him to get moving more but there were time in there when he allowed himself to get caught and he shouldn't have done that.

"I think the referee probably stopped it because he didn't want Ady to get hit with any more of those heavy shots.

"Personally I'd have liked to have seen him get to the end of the round and assessed it from there but the referee looked into his eyes and was in the best position to judge."

Sanjuanelo, who entered the ring wearing a Manchester United baseball cap, looks well capable of going on to greater things in the eight stone six division while for Lewis - still only 26 - there will be some deep thinking about where his career should go from here.