East Lancashire talent shines on big King George's Hall bill

Home favourite Artif Ali was stopped by Bradford’s Zeeshan Khan in their contest for the vacant Central Area super featherweight title in the main event of Frank Duffin and Kevin Maree's card.

Rawtenstall’s Aaron Hayden, Earby’s Josh Holmes, Blackburn’s Omar Dusary and Darwen's Jimmy Roberts, on his professional debut, were also winners on the night.

As expected, the night closed with a closely fought encounter. Khan came into this fight unbeaten at 8-0 and Ali had a record of 14 wins with just two defeats.

The contest was a real battle as both fighters left everything they had in the ring with the Blackburn fighter declared unable to continue in the ninth round.

Ali was visibly disappointed with the outcome of the fight as it could have gone either way.

Manager Maree is confident his man can come back from defeat and fight for titles like this again in the future.

Omar Dusary on his way to victory

“Of course it’s hard for Artif and us all to take too, but we knew Zeeshan was a good fighter and that it was going to be tough to beat him," he said.

“He came into this fight unbeaten so Artif would’ve had to do what no one else has done before and get one over on him.

“Unfortunately, it wasn’t to be. I thought it was a really close fight that could’ve gone either way.

“Artif started the fight too quickly I thought and he gassed a bit towards the end.

“If that hadn’t have happened then who knows what the result would have been?

“It’s just one of them, we’ve got to take it, move on and plan for the future.

"I’ve got full faith that Artif will be fighting for titles like this again in the near future because he’s a great fighter.

“We want to take him away from fighting in Blackburn now, so he can go about getting back up to the level of fighting for a title of this calibre again.

“This is the second show we’ve put on of this kind and it’s something we want to carry on doing.

"The crowd were brilliant and they really go into the main event as both fighters always bring a good amount of fans with them.”

Hayden is another fighter in the Maree Boxing ranks and the 25-year-old super featherweight took his record to 3-0 with a points victory over Luke Fash.

Aaron Hayden celebrates victory

“I thought Aaron looked good in there on Saturday. I know a few people were impressed with his performance,” Maree said.

“He’s only young in boxing, but he’s coming on well.

“He showed composure in the ring and controlled the fight, he never looked bothered by what his opponent had.

“He’s another one of my fighters that I’ve got high hopes for, he’s a great lad and is always willing to learn and take on the advice that we offer to him.

“We want to be careful with Aaron and pick the right fights for him so he can build a bit of a reputation for himself in the sport.

“Eventually, we want him to be fighting for titles because we know he’s got the quality to do that.”