Matchroom boxers Darren Bruce and Richard Evatt recorded wins in Coventry on Friday evening.

For Evatt, a win was crucial if he was to prove his first professional defeat, on points, at the hands of Smith Odoom in Poland a couple of weeks ago was merely a blip.

With the prospect of a featherweight world title shot in the near future dangled before him, memories of what happened in Poland needed to be swiftly eradicated.

And so they were. Peter Buckley, who had already once been beaten by Evatt, was the unfortunate soul to face the backlash of Evatt's unexpected Polish defeat.

Buckley endured five rounds of one-way traffic as Evatt launched a blistering, relentless attack.

Buckley was forced to slip and duck but, by the fifth round, was offering so little in return the referee stopped the fight.

The manner of Evatt's victory should keep him in the frame for that world title shot later this year, according to Matchroom spokesman John Wischhusen, who expects the matter to be clarified "over the next few days".

Unbeaten Grays welterweight Darren Bruce was a late addition to the bill. But, despite recording a points victory over George Richardson, Bruce was far from satisfied with the manner of his performance.

"I fought terribly," he said afterwards. "That had to be my worst performance as a professional."

Maybe Bruce was being a little hard on himself. He had hardly had the best of preparation for this fight and, until he arrived in Coventry, he had no idea he would be meeting a southpaw.

"I've not had southpaw sparring for at least 18 months, so I wasn't too pleased when I learned who I was going to fight.

"Besides, Richardson was more like a light middleweight. We were told he weighed in at 11 stone but, to me, he looked at least 11.8 or 11.9.

"Still, at least I won. Harry Simons took five rounds to beat Richard-son, and he's the world champion."

Bruce is planning to go to America to watch the Lennox Lewis/Evander Holyfield heavyweight title clash before returning to prepare for his next contest on April 27 at York Hall, Bethnal Green.

But he still harbours hopes of fighting before then.

"I'm hoping I can get the chance to fight on the Prince Naseem Hamed/ Paul Ingle undercard in Manchester on April 10," he said.

A bill at York Hall on March 12 will be topped by the IBO lightweight title clash between Michael Ayers and Lois Flores.

It is hoped to include Adrian Dobson, Marc P. Callaghan, Jason Ratcliff, David Kehoe and Glenn McClarion on the undercard.

For ticket details, telephone Matchroom Boxing on 01708 782208.

Richard Evatt . . . non-stop aggression.

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