John Simpson made a successful first defence of his British Featherweight title by stopping Ryan Barrett at the Millennium Hotel in London’s Mayfair on Friday night.

It could have been a difficult night’s work for Simpson who was boxing away from home against a taller southpaw who had only been beaten three times in 19 pro contests - most recently by the much bigger Amir Khan who stopped him in the opening round of their contest. Since then, the 24 year old Barrett had put together three wins on the bounce, including a comfortable points win over former British champ, Jamie McKeever.

It was almost all over before it had really started when a clash of heads in the opening round left Barrett with a nasty cut to his right eye. It wasn’t as serious as it first looked however, and referee Richie Davies allowed the contest to continue.

Barrett then attempted to keep Simpson at bay by using his right jab, but it proved little more than an annoyance for the Greenock man who managed to step inside to land some punishing body shots in the opening rounds.

By the fifth, Simpson was already ahead on points and it looked as if the fight might well go the distance. But with barely ten seconds left on the clock, the Scotsman unleashed yet another left hook to the body, leaving Barrett on his knees and unable to continue.

“It was a good punch,” John said afterwards. “I’ve only stopped four people before but I felt my power was getting to Ryan.”