Jimmy First did not last too long in his English lightweight title bout against Lewis Sylvester in Rotherham on Saturday night.

The Bradford native, who is 42 years old, had never fought above Central Area level before, but positive performances against Cori Gibbs and Josh Padley over the last year had helped give him this opportunity.

After winning his first 14 professional fights, Brighouse resident First had lost his last two bouts.

And he had his work cut out to stop it becoming three in a row against Sylvester on Saturday, who was defending his title with a 12-0 record.

Organised by Stefy Bull Promotions, with both boxers training at his gym near Doncaster, Sylvester was the clear favourite with the bookmakers.

And that forecast proved to be correct, with Sylvester taking victory by technical knockout towards the end of the first round.

It was First’s first-ever defeat by knockout, his two previous losses coming on points.

First was magnanimous in defeat, posting this to Instagram afterwards:

Sylvester was gracious in victory too, writing: “Massive shout out to my dance partner @jimmythefist1981.

“It was a pleasure to share the ring with you mate, you’re a credit to the sport.”

Mohammed Subhaan was on the undercard of First and Sylvester’s title bout.

The 23-year-old Bradford lightweight has made a solid start to life in the professional ranks, and he is now 5-0 after a dominant victory over Colombian opponent Joshua Ocampo.

Bradford flyweight Fezan Shahid was in action in Derby, but his professional record has now slipped to 2-2-2 after he was defeated on points by unbeaten Fraser Morgan.

Hamed Ghaz (18-1) is set to return to the ring on November 25, with he and fellow Bradford resident Francis Kershaw (3-0) pencilled in to fight in Oldham next month.