Young pretender!

And in front of a packed Nottingham Ice Arena on Saturday night, Young Mutley beat the man and became the top welterweight in country.

But the judges' decision to award the belt to the challenger was a controversial one to say the least.

Because apart from a few hundred noisy Mutley fans who had made the journey from West Bromwich, everybody else thought Jennings had done more then enough to defend his British title.

But after 12 hard rounds and with the Chorley Lurcher' never hitting the heights it was Mutley who left the ring with the coveted Lonsdale Belt and Jennings was left to rue a bad day at the office.

But he will get a chance to right that wrong in an almost certain re-match.

Amir Khan was at ringside to see his stablemate in action and Jennings came to the ring as a hot favourite to defend his domestic title for a second time.

And after a couple of decent dust-ups in the stalls, the temperature in the Ice Arena was red hot.

Jennings, who was floored in the opening round of his last outing against Bradley Pryce, promised a fast start and that's what he delivered as he got down to work early behind his impressive jab.

Mutley, who was stepping up in weight and class to face Jennings, also made an impression in the early rounds with his impressive left hook that stunned Jennings a little in the fourth but never really hurt the champion.

But hooks were really all Mutley, who adopted the nickname given to his father who was a street fighter in the 1970s, had in his locker and during the 12 rounds of action.

He probably threw out more hooks than Captain Birdseye on his annual spring clean and found some success as Jennings tried to fight Mutley rather than box him.

The challenger was throwing single shots and although heavier handed it shouldn't have been enough to sway the judges.

And Jennings always looked the busier. His phenomenal stamina meant that he was always on the move and was constantly probing with his jab.

In the middle part of the fight, Jennings began to dominate, making his mark in the eighth as the challenger visibly began to tire.

He began to back Mutley up and had success with more shots making their way through the porous Mutley defence.

But in the latter stages it was the challenger, who had never been past 10 rounds before, who got his second wind and probably edged the last couple of rounds.

At the final bell, both fighters raised the arms in triumph but the general consensus at ringside was that Jennings had done enough to nick it - probably by three rounds.

But when a decision is left in the lap of the judges it becomes a lottery.

Boxing is a subjective game and no two people see a fight the same way.

And when the Master of Ceremonies Michael Pass announced the verdict was a split decision then all logic went out of the window.

Howard Foster gave the decision to Jennings 115-113 but John Keane and Terry O'Connor both found in favour Mutley with scores of 116-113 and the belt went to the West Bromwich man.

To call it a travesty would be too harsh. Both fighters were evenly matched and both fighters had their successes.

But on work-rate alone, those at ringside thought the champion had done enough.

Rumours that Frank Warren, who wasn't at the fight, was less than impressed at the decision and wanted to see a re-match reached the press box minutes after the fight.

And Jennings will jump at the chance to right that wrong.

Winning back what he believes is rightfully his is now both his goal and his motivation.