KEIGHLEY'S Muhammad Ali was pleased to find new resilience after recovering from his first ever knockdown to claim victory for the British Lionhearts on an emotional night at London's York Hall.

Just 30 hours after having witnessed last week's terror attack in the capital, the former Bradford College pupil was first in the ring as the Lionhearts took on Italia Thunder in the World Series of Boxing fixture.

Ali, who had been attending a community event the day before at Westminster with his team-mates when they saw the attack on murdered PC Keith Palmer, claimed a unanimous points victory over fellow Rio Olympian Manuel Cappai.

But the Yorkshire flyweight had to come off the canvas to do it after suffering a second-round knockdown.

Ali said: "You never want to go down but it shows me that if it does happen then I can come back and pull it out of the bag."

Ali, who was kept in lockdown with his team-mates in the Houses of Parliament in the aftermath of the terror attack, admitted events had taken their toll. He said: "It's the first time I have been down in a fight.

"After what happened the day before, I’d had no food or water pretty much the whole day.

"I thought that affected me quite a bit and that was a big factor why I got hurt but I dug deep, so that was a good thing."

Ali’s jab worked well early on but switch-hitter Cappai caught his opponent with a big left a minute into the second round that left the Bury Amateur Boxing Club member on the canvas.

After beating the referee's count, he gradually regained control over the five-round clash.

A referee warning for the Italian in the third shifted the balance of a compelling contest once again, and even some pinpoint uppercuts weren’t enough in the face of an Ali onslaught, who ensured the hosts had the early advantage.

Ali, aged 20, said of his opponent: "He is a two-time Olympian, so he had a lot of experience. I thought I dealt with him pretty well but it was just the one punch that he got me with."

The Lionhearts didn't look back as Calum French, Pat McCormack, Radoslav Pantaleev and Fraser Clarke also won their bouts to triumph 5-0 and extend their lead at the top of Group B with two matches of the preliminaries to go.

It capped off an emotional two days for the boxers, whose coach Tony Davis had been involved in efforts to save PC Palmer's life.

Despite being troubled by the incident, they were determined to go ahead with the fixture.

Recalling the events at Westminster, Ali said: "We were just going out when it happened. All day, I couldn't get it out of my head because we saw everything.

"The coaches spoke to us about what went on, because we had to focus (on Thursday evening's fights).

"What happened was a shock, but you have to get on with things."

Ali is now aiming to make it three wins out of three for the Lionhearts when he next competes on Friday, April 21 away to Morocco Atlas Lions.

After winning his first match against French Fighting Roosters, his 100 per cent record sees him joint top of the individual 52kg flyweight division.

He said: "I hope to keep it that way. I want to do well individually as well as for the team."