By Elliot Foster

Matty Askin kept hold of his English cruiserweight title with a stoppage win in Liverpool.

The Blackpool man moved to 20-3-1 (13 KOs) after Simon Barclay was pulled out by the doctor inside two rounds, exclusively live on BoxNation, at the ECHO Arena.

Askin was originally meant to defend his belt against former foe Lawrence Bennett in a fierce rematch as part of Terry Flanagan’s successful WBO lightweight title defence against North West rival Derry Mathews, but ‘Sparkly’ Barclay –– who lost his undefeated record in defeat –– stepped in after Bennett had medical complications.

The Corby prospect, who was 8-0 before stepping through the ropes on Merseyside, was put down in the first round from a big overhand right.

And it was all downhill from there for him as, after recuperating during the minute-long rest, his left eye was cut and began to bleed badly, which caused the referee to call for the doctor, who advised the third man to halt the fight.

And that’s what happened. The end came after one minute and 18 seconds of the second round, while the ref indicated that the cut was caused by a punch.

Elsewhere, Jazza Dickens put a disappointing few days behind him by claiming a win in his latest outing.

The Everton Red Triangle-trained super bantamweight, who is the reigning British champion, was set to fight Cuban superstar Guillermo Rigondeaux in a 10-round contest.

But Dickens, now 22-1 (6 KOs), had to deal with a late stand-in after visa issues meant that the double Olympic and world champion (16-0, 10 KOs) couldn’t travel to Liverpool for the fight.

Reynaldo Cajina (14-31-5, 10 KOs), from Spain by way of Nicaragua, was brought in to face the 24-year-old and ‘Jazza’ made easy work of the fight, forcing his opposite number to quit after six rounds of a scheduled eight.

Cajina, who was as tough as old boots, was downed in the second round by a left hand from Dickens, but the remainder of the fight was a one-sided procession until the retirement came three-quarters of the way through.

And Dickens’ gym-mate Kevin Satchell extended his undefeated run in the paid code to 15-0 with a win over Adrian Dimas Garzon.