By Miguel Assuncao

O2 Arena, London - IBF featherweight world champion Lee Selby (23-1, 8KOs) survived an early knockdown to outwork mandatory challenger Eric Hunter (21-4, 11KOs) down the stretch to win a twelve round unanimous decision. The scores were 115-111, 116-110, 116-110.

Having won the belt by stopping Evgeny Gradovich at the same London venue in May 2015, the Barry-based boxer looked to assert himself early on but was caught by a counter left that sent him to the canvas in the second round.

Selby, 29, recovered quickly and fired back with a right hand that stiffened the legs of the American challenger in the third but Hunter used his sharp foot speed to get out of range in order to avoid any follow-up damage.

‘The Outlaw’ lived up to the stereotype of a wily Philadelphia fighter, using a low let hand to entice Selby onto him before trying to counter with left hooks upstairs with moderate success.

Often referred to as the ‘Welsh Mayweather’, Selby responded by showing deft reflexes and composed footwork of his own to pin Hunter in the corner and unload a rapid-fire combination in round five but had to remain alert to counters.

Hunter, 29, has been disqualified twice in his career and he again showed ill discipline, being deducted a point for repeated low blows in the eighth as his work rate began to drop.

The final round saw Hunter try to land a number of telegraphed power shots, with Selby content to fight off the back foot to clinch a hard earned unanimous decision.

ON THE UNDERCARD

Hackney’s Ohara Davies (10-0-0, 8KOs) claims his maiden title with a fourth round stoppage of Andy Keates (11-3-0, 1KO) to claim the English lightweight belt.

‘Two Tanks’ showed why he’s one of the division’s most highly-rated prospects by taking charge of centre ring from the off, creating unorthodox angles on the way to landing a ripping right uppercut from the crouch position which sent Keates to the canvas at the end of the first round.

Davies, 24, was confident enough to talk to onlookers at ringside and drew blood from his opponent's nose with a series of straight shots in the second before a number of unanswered body shots in the third prompted to referee to consider calling a halt to the fight.

To his credit, Staffordshire’s Keates survived and did try to get his own shots off but struggled to deal with the considerable reach of the London man, getting countered on his way back to mid range and was unable to get up again when he was hit with a thundering left hook in the fourth.

Davies has now set his sets on a fight against Scott Cardle.

Welterweight prospect Ted Cheeseman (3-0-0, 2KOs) extends his unbeaten run in the paid ranks with a fourth round stoppage of Mario Petrov (2-3-0, 1KO).

Despite being only 20-years old, Cheeseman showed good ring generalmanship skipping in and out of range, moving his Bulgarian opponent across the ring before landing a sharp left hook that had Petrov wincing in the first round.

The Bermondsey boxer caught the eye with a number of fast flurries accented with disguised short uppercuts in the second and targeted the body in the third to leave Petrov breathing heavily from his mouth.

Cheeseman continued to press in the fourth and a flush rangy right hand sent Petrov to the canvas before the referee waved off the contest.

A potentially historic night for British boxing is underway at the 02 Arena, London.

To kick off the undercard action, Poland’s Kamil Laszczyk (21-0-0, 8KOs) beats Ignac Kassai (20-49-2, 6KOs) on points over six rounds.

Laszczyk - who is based in New Jersey, USA - was able to put his combinations together from the start with his Hungarian opponent happy to walk forward with a high guard.

The 25-year-old featherweight continued to dominate the exchanges and hurt Kassai with a well timed left hand in the fifth before pressing for a stoppage.

To his credit, Kassai managed to stay out of range but the Pole was able to win out 59-55 on the referee's card.