SWINDON fighter Jamie Cox maintained his flawless professional record with an eight-point victory over Hungarian veteran Janos Petrovics at the Oasis last night - and took a huge step towards a fight for the British Welterweight crown.

The 22-year-old former Commonwealth Games gold medallist did not look in danger of losing School’s Out’ contest with the Budapest brawler, but was pushed all the way to the end as he took his 12th pro victory.

A focused-looking Cox made a quick start to the contest and landed several body shots early on.

The Swindon southpaw twice lost his footing in the early stages but it was a minor blot on an impressive opening round.

The 22-year-old dispatched a flurry of punches on two occasions and Petrovics did not seem to have much in reply.

Cox was having some success with his head shots as well and let fly several times with the Hungarian on the ropes.

Petrovics was on the defensive and seemed to be causing his man few problems.

Cox continued to deliver scoring headshots in round two and forced Petrovics into desperate defence a number of times.

The Budapest fighter was not to be outdone as evidence of his improvement was seen with blood being drawn from the Swindon man’s left cheek.

But a left hook from Cox saw parity restored as he rained down more body and head shots on his opponent. He ended the round with several more headshots.

Rounds four and five followed much the same template with Petrovics unable to get any rhythm going. But despite receiving a number of clean, hard shots, he did not look like dropping to the canvas.

Round six was slightly more cagey but Cox still looked comfortably on top.

Although he was not able to force his opponent onto the ropes with the regularity he had earlier, he did not look in danger of being outfought.

Two left hooks from the Swindon southpaw resulted in Petrovics wobbling for the first time, but the veteran kept his feet in spite of his tiredness.

In the final round, with his trainer Paddy Fitzpatrick urging him to ‘do the basics’, Cox kept his composure to keep Petrovics at arm’s length and seal yet another win.

It was an impressive way to answer to those who criticised his display in his previous victory over Mark Lloyd, and Cox will be pleased that he managed to see off the former Olympic boxer relatively convincingly.

SWINDON fighter Marlon Reid made short work of his Stourport opponent Ernie Smith at the Oasis yesterday evening.

The middleweight achieved a technical knockout with seconds left of the first round as he proved to have far too much punching power for his opponent.

The result meant 27-year-old Reid has won four out of four fights as a pro, and condemned Smith to the 142nd defeat of his career.

There was a cagey opening to the fight as Smith kept his distance and Reid landed a few tentative left-hand jabs.

But mid-way through the round Reid had his rival in trouble as a right-left combination saw his opponent sink to his knees on the canvas. Smith looked in serious trouble any time Reid was able to bring him within reach and that proved the case again soon after.

The Swindon fighter forced the Kidderminster man into the corner of the ring and dumped him on the floor with a hammer right hand.

With 17 seconds left and Smith on the ropes, Reid ended the fight as he delivered a right punch that put Smith down with ease.

In the opening bout of the night, Exeter bantamweight Lewis Browning, on his pro debut, beat Sheffield fighter Anwar Alfadi by a four-point margin following a gutsy attacking display.

Next up was another closely fought bantamweight contest that went right to the wire, Bristol’s Adam Cummings edging out East Ham’s Johnny Greaves 39-38.

Super featherweight Chris Higgs, from Lydney, came through a tough examination by the experienced Brummie Karl Taylor, winning on points, 40-36.

The next fight saw a bruising encounter between Torquay’s Jamie Speight and Ghanaian brawler Asamoah Wilson.

Speight delivered the more telling blows in the international super-heavyweight bout as he defeated his African opponent 40-36.

The cruiserweight bout between Leon ‘Solid’ Williams and Lee Kellett did not take place after the latter failed to show up.