Jason Booth enjoyed a large slice of fortune to retain his British super-bantamweight title and pick up the vacant Commonwealth crown with a 11^th round cuts stoppage over Matthew Marsh at the Harvey Hadden Leisure Centre in Nottingham tonight. In doing so, the Nottingham veteran secured the coveted Lonsdale belt outright after making his third successful defence.

Referee John Keane, after consulting with the ringside doctor, decided to wave things off after Marsh started to bleed profusely from a nasty laceration sustained above his right eyelid in round five which gradually worsened. It was arguably the correct decision from the official but Marsh, who led by two and three points on two judges scorecards at the time of the stoppage, can consider himself unfortunate.

It all began so well for the challenger from West Ham after Booth sustained a cut to the bridge of his nose in the opener following a clash of heads. The injury served to disrupt the normally composed Booth, who in attempting to force the action, was being outwitted by Marsh’s quick feet and accurate one-twos.

Out-of-sorts and off the pace, things went from bad to worse for Booth in round five after he was decked by a glancing right hand which connected high on his temple. More off-balance than hurt, the Nottingham champion quickly bounced back and another clash of heads crucially caused the damage to Marsh’s eye that would eventually cost him the fight in what proved to be a pivotal session.

Marsh’s corner, led by Johnny Eames, initially managed to keep their man’s cut under control but it handed Booth some welcome encouragement at a time when the fight was in danger of running away from him. Gradually, Booth’s undoubted class began to shine through as Marsh’s earlier snappy attacks and constant movement began to desert him.

Varying his shots to head and body, a more purposeful Booth began to close the distance and he enjoyed his best spell between rounds six and eight as Marsh appeared to be struggling with the pace.

In an effort to regain his earlier foothold in the contest, Marsh mounted a supreme effort in the ninth and connected with some solid right hands. He was met though with some counter left hooks from the determined Booth as the pair traded blows in the centre of the ring in an entertaining ninth.

Marsh’s right eye noticeably worsened in the tenth and Booth continued to press home his advantage in the eleventh by forcing Marsh momentarily through the ropes after a sustained attack. The fight was very much in the balance though when referee Keane decided that Marsh’s deteriorating cut was in danger of impairing his vision which brought about an unsatisfactory end to a contest of contrasting halves.

At the time of the finish, I had Booth just edging in front but Marsh’s effort is deserving of a rematch. Despite the fortuitous nature of his victory, Booth also deserves credit for switching his tactics mid-fight to eventually negate Marsh’s earlier superiority.

‘2 Smooth’ can now look forward to a crack at the European super-bantamweight title which his friend and stablemate Rendall Munroe is set to vacate to concentrate on his forthcoming WBC world title final eliminator in April.