ADY Lewis's bid to land a shot at the British Bantamweight crown ended in the sixth round against Castleford's Noel Wilders on Tuesday night.

The Mighty Atom was stopped by the referee after suffering a series of cuts in the title eliminator at Ipswich's Corn Exchange.

Victory would have secured the Bury star a shot at the British crown, currently held by Ellesmere Port's Paul Lloyd, but he was up against it from the moment blood started trickling from his nose in the opening round.

Wilders' impressive jabbing continued to cause havoc throughout the opening rounds and Lewis sustained a cut above his left eye in the fifth before a more serious wound above the right in the following round caused by a clash of heads.

With Wilders clearly ahead on points, the referee brought a halt to proceedings.

It was a move which infuriated the Lewis camp who claimed the former British and Commonwealth flyweight champion still had plenty to offer. Trainer Jack Doughty said: "Ady was really mad because he felt Wilders was starting to show signs of slowing down and was running for his life. However, he could not see the cuts on his face.

"Ady has never been as fit as he was for this fight and we feel he would have got on top in the later rounds.

"If the fight had gone on it could easily have been a repeat of Ady's win over Peter Culshaw."

In that famous fight in September 1997, Lewis was floored in the opening minutes before grinding his way back into the contest to win inside eight rounds.

There was to be no fairytale finish this time.

Doughty, however, insists his man was ready to bounce back.

"We expected to give away the first few rounds because Wilders is obviously quick and clever.

"I sealed up the first cut but when he came back with another above the right eye the referee didn't give me a chance to work on it."

Lewis will take a short holiday before heading back to the gym and setting his sights on a return to the ring.

Doughty says there is no need for panic. "He has only lost two fights from 19. It is a tremendous record and he is only just 24. He will be back!" he added.

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