Watson loses title bout

BOXING: OLDHAM'S Craig Watson lost his British welterweight title after defeat to Lee Purdy at the Manchester Arena.

Northside star Watson (28) was floored by a vicious right hand in the fifth round, on the undercard of Amir Khan versus Paul McCloskey.

After stumbling back on to his feet, the referee decided to stop proceedings.

It represents a huge blow to Watson, who joined Ricky Hatton's stable of Hyde-based boxers last year and went into the bout in confident mood.

He had set his sights on a second defence of the title in his hometown, or even a European title fight later this year.

Purdy said: "I'm absolutely over the moon. My trainer said if I step in with my shots I will catch this boy and I did.”

Meanwhile, Khan was keen to move on after an unsavoury week ended with an unsatisfactory win over furious WBA light–welterweight title challenger McCloskey.

The 24–year–old champion kept his belt after a cut near McCloskey's left eye prompted a controversial sixth-round finish in Manchester.

It rounded off an unpleasant week in which Khan became embroiled in a row with broadcasters Sky and defected to Primetime TV.

But after the fight he prefered to focus on his next mission — adding Timothy Bradley's WBC and WBO titles to his own WBA belt.