Walcot Amateur Boxing Club fighter Bolton Fernandes bowed out of the England Boxing Development National Championships at the quarter-final stage

The light-welterweight lost on points in controversial circumstances to Jake Stephenson, from the Royal Navy.

After a cagey opening minute where neither boxer landed with much leather, Fernandes slipped onto the canvas.

The referee mistakenly thought he had been knocked down and gave the Swindonian a count, which meant the Navy boxer won a close opening round.

The remaining two rounds were also close, with Stephenson using his reach advantage in an attempt to keep Fernandes out of range, and the Walcot fighter counter-attacking with left jabs and straight rights.

After three competitive rounds, the Walcot camp felt their man had edged it, but the ringside judges awarded Stephenson a points decision.

Walcot chief coach Harry Scott was disappointed with the judges’s decision, saying: “We felt Bolton won that contest but his slip in the first round cost us dear.

“However, Bolton has done well to reach a national quarter-final and he will learn a lot from this experience.”