Rafferty and Chamberlain 'war' ends in draw

Despite one judge scoring the fight to Chamberlain the contest was ruled a majority draw

Jack Rafferty and Mark Chamberlain put on a stunning fight as their British and Commonwealth super-lightweight contest ended in a majority draw.

One of the judges scored the bout in favour of Portsmouth's Chamberlain by a round but the other two had the pair locked at 114-114.

Manchester's Rafferty brought a huge support with him on the night, with the raucous crowd treated to a tremendous contest.

As the final bell rang the bloodied and bruised pair embraced before they celebrated, each thinking they had done enough to snatch the win.

Chamberlain started the fight well, landing a straight one-two that caught his opponent clean and made him momentarily stagger backwards.

But Rafferty grew into the contest and inflicted damage to Chamberlain, taking control of the mid rounds and at times looking as if he could be heading to another stoppage win.

Chamberlain looked in trouble towards the end of round seven as Rafferty finished with a massive left hand that swiped across Chamberlain's face.

But after the Mancunian would have moments of joy, the southpaw Chamberlain would land some huge shots of his own as he boxed really well off the back foot.

Immediately after, Chamberlain came back swinging as he found a second wind and ended the bout in style.

The final round was something to behold, both men putting everything on the line to prove they had done enough.

The first minute of that round belonged to Chamberlain, who put the pressure on Rafferty and threw everything he had into combinations that made it through.

But, to the home crowd's delight, Rafferty finished the round strong, replying with shots of his own that exposed Chamberlain's already opened cuts, with blood pouring down the side of his face.

As the final bell sounded the arena rose to applaud the efforts of both men who provided what could be one of the fights of the year.

"What a fight and what a time to be alive," Rafferty told BBC Sport after the fight.

"I've come from absolutely nothing to now fighting a main event on TV, which is amazing, both our stocks have risen.

"I thought I did enough and I believe I won but I'm not a referee, I'm a fighter. I'll go back and assess to see if I need to be better next time. Sign me up for a rematch."

Rafferty has never lost as a professional and Chamberlain came into this fight with just one defeat. This was the first time both men had drawn.

"Since the fight was made I said that I was going to stand there and have a war with Jack," Chamberlain told BBC Sport.

"That's what we both did, it was a proper 12 round British title scrap.

"We both dug deep and went into deep waters, we're getting out the ring after the final bell healthy and back to our families, which is what matters.

"We both caught each other in there a few times. People are telling me it was one hell of a scrap and we both want the rematch, so let's get it on."