Grays welterweight Darren Bruce maintained his unbeaten record at York Hall, Bethnal Green with an impressive victory against Derby's Dennis Berry.

This had promised to be Bruce's toughest contest to date - and his first scheduled eight-rounder, but that proved to be academic as the Matchroom boxer emerged victorious in the third round.

Bruce looked good from the opening bell on Tuesday evening. He had Berry pinned against the ropes during one sustained attack, but Berry came back with some good work of his own to even up the round.

Unusually for Bruce, his performance in the second round began rather untidily as Berry tried to get him to work on the inside.

Midway through the round the referee prised the two men apart and warned them to split when told.

After that, it was more like the Bruce his vociferous fans have come to expect when their man found his range and dominated the remainder of the round.

The third round was bizarre and gave the fans something they had not seen before - Bruce on the canvas not once, but three times.

However, it was not as bad as it sounds - the first time was the result of a slip which, for some reason known only to the referee, Bruce received a standing count.

His second excursion to the canvas resulted when he stumbled over Berry's feet as the man from Derby tried to rough him up, and the third time was the result of another slip.

Bruce's response was a sustained onslaught which put Berry down.

It was awesome stuff and enough to persuade the referee that Berry, who was bleeding heavily from the nose, could not continue.

That's 11 consecutive wins for Bruce. As predicted, Berry was a tough opponent, but Bruce came through the test with flying colours.

"I got in there with my game plan all set out," said Bruce afterwards, "but he was a rough character.

"He kept trying to make me work inside, but I didn't want that so I decided to tie him up. That's when the referee told us to split up.

"When I went back to my corner my trainer, Freddie King, told me to use the uppercut.

"When I went out for the next round my first uppercut stunned him, and the second cut him over the eye.

"I could see he was wobbling so I just went in to take him out.

"Dennis is the sort of guy I've got to beat if I'm going to make it to the top - that's what it's all about."

Unbeaten Dagenham super bantamweight 19-year-old Nicky Cook made his third professional appearancewhen he took on Bulgarian Vasil Paskalev.

Within two minutes of the first round it was all over, Cook knocking out the Bulgarian in impressive style.

"I was surprised at the way he came at me," said Cook. "I knew he'd been in with good company - an Olympic silver medallist - but I didn't think he'd go that easily."

West Hammer Gary Steadman made his third professional appearance.

The super featherweight met Gary Groves. Steadman was by far the better man in the first round, and won in the second after his opponent received a cut after a clash of heads.

Super bantamweight Michael Alldis's contest against Gary Burrell was a short affair, Burrell being stopped in the first round because of a nasty looking cut over his left eye.

Lightweight Patrick Gallagher impressively beat Bulgarian, Demir Nanev in the third round when the referee stepped in to halt the proceedings.

All these contests were on the undercard of Adrian Dodson's non-title contest against French-man Orlando Weit.

This was a fight middleweight Dodson had to win after two successive defeats - and he did, courtesy of a 100-92 points decision.

The end is nigh . . . Dennis Berry wilts under the pressure as Darren Bruce moves in to record his 11th consecutive victory.

Picture: IVAN SAGE

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