PADDY Fitzpatrick hailed Luke Watkins’ ninth win of his professional career as his best yet.

The unbeaten cruiserweight prospect headed to York Hall on Saturday fully expecting to defeat Dmitrij Kalinovskij, but his trainer wanted Watkins to learn from the bout and work on the inside more.

The 26-year-old, who is now ranked seventh in Britain by BoxRec.com, followed the gameplan to a tee to take the decision.

“Duke performed probably the best he has ever done,” the Ferndale Road-based trainer said. “The way he went about his business was excellent.

“He cut the ring off better than he has done before and he got a lot closer on the inside when working to the body.

“Anything that his opponent threw when getting on the inside, Duke managed to negate and take away his right hand.”

Despite Watkins’ opponent beginning life as a welterweight when turning professional, Fitzpatrick said that Kalinovskij did not look out of place in the 200lb division.

“When he turned pro he was just 18, a boy, but now he has got his man strength,” the Irish trainer said.

“He is way too big to be a light-heavy so this was his natural division and he still hasn’t been stopped since moving up to cruiserweight.”

Before Watkins closed the show in Bethnal Green, Fitzpatrick saw light-heavyweight Sam Smith fight through the pain barrier to stop David Sipos in the fourth round.

Having overcome an injury to his left hand prior to camp, Smith caught his thumb on his right hand at the end of the second of four rounds.

However, the 23-year-old continued to pile on the pressure before dropping the Hungarian in the final round and then pouncing on him again before the fight was stopped.

“At this stage it is too early to tell whether he just caught his thumb awkwardly or if there is something else wrong,” added Fitzpatrick, whose other light-heavyweight, David Bailey, is targeting the new Southern Area champion Jack Morris.

“He is icing it and taking some anti-inflammatories for the next couple of days.

“But he boxed beautifully. He did exactly as I asked and I was very pleased with him.”