Wins for Williams, Gorman and Conlan on Warrington-Frampton Undercard

Liam Williams has captured the vacant British middleweight title with a dominant display, stopping Mark Heffron in the tenth round of a thoroughly one-sided contest.

Despite the competitive nature of their pre-fight verbal sparring, Williams asserted authority from the outset, circling the static Heffron and immediately getting to work with a busy jab and sharp combinations as Heffron unsuccessfully attempted to load up with some powerful return shots.

The Welshman began to nail Heffron with some meaty right hands, and although Heffron rallied in the ninth, a furious volley of blows from Williams in the following round sent Heffron spiralling into the ropes.

After referee Howard Foster administered the count, Williams consummated his in-ring superiority and mercilessly finalised proceedings with a barrage of blows before Foster’s intervention saved Heffron from sustaining any further punishment.

Also on the card, Nathan Gorman registered a lopsided unanimous points victory over Romanian Razvan Cojanu at the Manchester Arena, extending his record to 15-0 with 11 knockouts in the process.

Gorman dominated the early proceedings, employing intelligent in-out movement against his bigger counterpart and hurting Cojanu repeatedly with a venomous, varied selection of punches throughout the fight.

The Nantwich, Cheshire native faded somewhat as the fight progressed into the latter stages, but was still able to stiffen Cojanu’s legs on a number of occasions with some choice uppercuts before Gorman’s momentum was disrupted by holding and occasional return fire.

The Romanian plodded forward and continued to take punishment, but showcased good survival instincts coupled with an innate toughness to withstand Gorman’s late onslaughts and make it to final bell against a younger, stronger opponent – following a devastating setback to Luis Ortiz in July.

For nine rounds, former Olympian Mick Conlan produced a punch-perfect, safety-first display over Jason Cunningham, who showcased impressive resilience in withstanding a furious assault to survive the final round to lose a shutout on the scorecards.