It looked like it was going to be an early night for Anthony Yarde when he dropped Ralfs Vilcans with the first shot of the fight.
But his Latvian foe dragged himself off the canvas and back into the fight as they went the 10-round distance.
Vilcans proved a sturdy test for YardeGETTY
In the end, referee Victor Laughlin gave it to Yarde 98-92.
However, the Scotsman’s scorecard didn’t reflect how competitive the fight was.
From the off, Yarde came flying out the gates and floored Vilcans with a big right hand inside the opening 10 seconds.
Vilcans appeared to be more stunned than anything and got back to his feet to see out the first round.
In the second and third stanzas, the heavy underdog began to establish his jab while managing to stay out of harm’s way.
Yarde applied plenty of front foot pressure but in portions, he was being outworked by his lesser-known foe.
Towards the back end of the fifth round, there was a sense of urgency in Yarde’s work as a look of frustration came across his face.
The Londoner threw plenty of big shots but Vilcans wore them well and came back with some eye-catching combinations of his own.
By round nine, Yarde looked very tired while Vilcans confidence was growing.
One last push in the tenth and final frame appeared to be enough to earn Yarde the nod but it wasn’t a particularly inspiring performance.
Yarde acknowledged as much when he spoke to talkSPORT in the immediate aftermath.
“In boxing, I don’t like to have any bumps and bruises on my face but I got caught with some shots today,” he said.
“I’m one of those guys where I can walk through shots in sparring but with those small gloves, they were getting through.
“It’s a learning experience, I didn’t get hurt at any time, he is tough and what I learnt is because I dropped him in the first round, mentally I said ‘I can knock him out at any time’.”
Yarde is hoping to land a much-anticipated domestic dust-up with Joshua Buatsi next and would have hoped for a statement finish to punch his ticket for that fight – although it wasn’t to be.
