WARREN Stowe has vowed to fight on after his return to the ring ended in heartbreak last night.

The Burnley Bulldog ended a 16-month exile when he topped a six-fight bill at a tension-packed Turf Moor leisure centre.

But despite losing on points to Stoke's Darren Ashton, the 34-year-old has promised to shed the pounds and come back leaner and trimmer next time round.

"He boxed better than me. It was his night, it was his time, it was his moment," said Stowe.

"I could feel the ring-rust. I could see what I wanted to do but I just couldn't do it.

"I'm overweight, I know that. But once I lose that extra weight I'll be lethal."

Stowe, who weighed in at 12st 11lb, looked top heavy when he made his grand entrance to the delight of a 700-strong crowd.

And dressed in Burnley Football Club's claret and blue, he made an explosive start, knocking down Ashton with a sledgehammer left and right combination in the first round.

Stowe had his opponent pinned in the corner for most of the second and managed to land another volley of bone-jarring blows, with his savage left-hook proving particularly penetrating.

But as the fight wore on, it was Ashton who got stronger and by the end of the six-round contest Stowe had become decidedly ragged as the fatigue began to set in.

It was no surprise when the Stoke man eventually got the verdict 58-56.

And Stowe's coach, Jack Doughty, now believes his man must drop down to super-middleweight if he wants to make his return to the ring a success. "He started off as if he was going to stop the man but a mixture of ring-rust and fitness did him," said Doughty.

"But I thought Darren Ashton came back very well.

"He was good with the little light shots and Warren couldn't keep that going.

"He needs to come down in weight.

"He's carrying too much so we are aiming to get him down to 12 stone because he needs to be fighting at super-middle not at Light-Heavy."

Elsewhere on the bill, Burnley's Mark Hargreaves beat Lee Williamson in impressive style, 59-57.

And Colne's Shaun Horsfall easily outpointed Lee Molyneux 59-55.

Rochdale's Mike Whittaker beat Dean Ashton 59-56 and Wayne Shepherd saw off Matt Mowatt 59-57.

But the fight of the night was a blood-curdling scrap between Wigan's Lee Blundell and Jason Collins of Sheffield who tied at 57-57.

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