By Elliot Foster

Sean Dodd won the bragging rights between Birkenhead and Liverpool with one of his most convincing wins to date.

The lightweight retained his Commonwealth crown via unanimous decision at the ECHO Arena, exclusively live on Sky Sports.

Dodd, in the early rounds, gave up trying to suss the southpaw jab of Stalker and began marauding forward throwing shots.

And that’s what won him the fight: hard work and penetration –– as well as some craft and guile.

Stalker had something of a bad night, with the consensus being that he didn’t listen to the corner, before ultimately dropping a 118-111 scorecard turned in by all three arbiters at ringside.

For what it’s worth, it is felt that that was ‘Masher’s’ most high-profile victory, with Stalker being a former star amateur, who had promised to outbox the 33-year-old, who only started taking boxing seriously at the age of 24 when he walked into the Birkenhead Venture gym.

Stalker was the first to admit that he was flat, taking to social media in the aftermath to thank his team, family and friends before conceding that he was beaten “by the better man on the night.”

For Dodd, the fairytale continues to roll, with Eddie Hearn saying afterwards that he “didn’t know where the story started,” adding that he doesn’t know where it’s going to end.

And for ‘El Capitan’, it’s time to take stock and come back under the tutelage of Danny Vaughan in due course.