Horner makes it two wins out of two

George Horner and his team from Westway ABC

The 23-year-old was rarely troubled as referee Kevin Parkin judged him a 40-36 winner in the bout at the Beachcomber club in Humberston, near Cleethorpes.

Dozens of Horner’s fans added to a raucous ringside atmosphere after making the short trip to the south bank of the Humber.

And most of their cheers were reserved for the repeated successes their man enjoyed with hurtful hooks to the body of his Midlands opponent, which looked sore and reddened at the end of the four-round encounter.

But, despite slipping to his 218th defeat as a professional against Westway ABC man Horner, Laight has still only been stopped by five of his previous opponents.

He has had more contests in the last month than Horner’s entire professional career to date and the respect the Bridlington man showed after the contest suggested he had learned more in those 12 minutes than in most of his work as a professional so far.

The bout was fought on the undercard of Kevin Hooper’s successful first defence of the English lightweight title.

Two years ago, Hooper fought and beat Laight for a second time after losing a previous title attempt.

It may not be an omen, but there was enough on show for fight fans from both sides of the Humber to look out for Horner in the coming months and years