Sunderland's Ryan Kerr was formally presented with the inaugural English super middleweight championship belt by the Boxing Board at Hartlepool.
His stablemate, Danny Moir of Gateshead, was stopped in the third round of a catchweight contest by Commonwealth lightweight champion Kevin Bennett, while a former opponent of Moir's, Darlington's Francis Jones, lost his unbeaten tag to Ali Nuumbembe.
Michael Hunter, who stretched his unbeaten run to 21 bouts, is now only one victory away from claiming a Lonsdale belt as his own.
Hunter, who stopped Pontefract southpaw Sean Hughes, was making his second defence of his British super middleweight crown.
In the old days, three victories would have been enough to be given a Lonsdale belt for life but now you must win the title and then successfully defend it three times to achieve such a momentous reward.
