Rival couldn't handle my power says new British champ Askin

St Annes-based Askin won their title fight in Cardiff with a sixth-round knockout.

Askin told The Gazette: “I had him down in the first, and after that it was only a matter of time before I got to him again and finished it off.

“I have spoken to you often enough over the years to make you realise how much winning the British title means to me and I am proud to bring the belt back to Blackpool.

“I was happy with the way I boxed, throwing shots and making sure I kept moving. He couldn’t deal with my power.

“I will now sit down with my team and decide what I do in the future, maybe make a defence of this and move on after that.”

Askin, who hinted at quitting the fight game had he come up short against his former sparring partner Kennedy, said: “We have come through a lot and it is down to my manager Paul Speak and my trainers Michael and Dave Jennings that I am here. It has been a long time coming.

“I could have got him out of there earlier but the Welsh crowd kept him going. Craig was very tough and massive credit to him. He took my shots like a champion.

“A lot of people would not have got up from those shots in the first round.”

Askin said emotions almost got the better of him when the realisation of what he had achieved started to sink in.

“I was getting a bit teary but it is a brilliant feeling to win the British title,” he said.