HAMED Ghaz marked his first eight-round contest with an emphatic final round stoppage victory over Taka Bembere at the Centenary Pavilion at Elland Road.

Ghaz, from Undercliffe, scored a knockdown in the fifth round with a sharp counter right hand, before a barrage of blows on the ropes forced the referee’s intervention in the final moments.

The 22-year-old improves his professional record to 14-0 and the victory inside the distance is his first since 2015.

“I’m feeling great and I’m over the moon to have got the stoppage,” Ghaz exclusively told the Telegraph and Argus.

“It was my first time doing an eight rounder and I was facing a tough opponent who just kept on coming (forward). But I could just see that I was getting too strong for him as the rounds went on and thankfully I got the finish.”

“This was my first fight at lightweight and I felt a lot lighter in there and I could move a lot faster, especially with my head movement.”

“Lightweight is made for me and from now on, this is my weight. I’m not far away from a title shot and I want it soon.”

Headlining the evening’s action, Ghaz was the aggressor from the off, but he struggled to pin down the elusive Bembere in the opening half of the fight.

But, by the halfway point, Ghaz was beginning to land flush. It paid dividends in the fifth as a counter right hook floored Bembere in the corner as the Oldham fighter was caught out while retreating on the back foot.

Bembere was unhurt by the knockdown though as the pair traded blow for blow in round six. Ghaz had the wind beneath his sails and looked close to a stoppage after a fast combination to head and body on the ropes.

The fight went into the final round as Bembere dug in, but Ghaz’s energy proved valuable. Bembere took plenty of punishment on the ropes and a clean straight right hand saw referee Michael Alexander end the bout.

Ghaz returns to action at Elland Road on November 23.