Jamie Conlan fails in bid to secure IBF super-flyweight belt

Jamie Conlan failed in his bid to win the IBF super-flyweight title after he was stopped by champion Jerwin Ancajas in the sixth round at the SSE Arena.

The Filipino southpaw dominated the bout and forced the brave Belfast boxer to take a number of counts before the referee called a halt to the contest.

The powerful Ancajas has now defended his belt three times, while for Conlan it was his first tilt at a world title.

Conlan had not been beaten in his 19 previous professional fights.

The 31-year-old took his first count in the first round after mysteriously collapsing to the canvas with no punch thrown and then sustained a nasty cut to his eye in round two.

Conlan took further counts in the third and fourth rounds as he felt the effects of persistent strong body shots from his 25-year-old opponent, before Ancajas was docked a point from the judges' scorecards after a couple of low blows in the fifth.

The referee eventually stepped in during the sixth to save the Belfast boxer from further punishment.

Barnes wins in round six

Another Belfast boxer, Paddy Barnes, secured the vacant WBO Intercontinental flyweight belt by stopping Nicaraguan Eliecer Quezada in the sixth round of their scheduled 12.

The victory saw the double Olympic medallist clinch a fifth professional win and move into the top 10 of the WBO world rankings.

Barnes described the success as "the best performance of his professional career" and the 30-year-old is now on target for a shot at a world crown in the latter half of next year.

Barnes had his man down in round two thanks to a chopping right hand and was well on top throughout.

He had been expecting to defend his WBO European flyweight title for the first time on the undercard of the bill but his original opponent fell through.

Barnes was only able to collect the intercontinental belt on Saturday after Quezada came in 2lb over the agreed limit at the weigh-in on Friday.