Butlin and Whelan in an area title cracker

Calm before the storm…Butlin (left) and Whelan at the weigh-in

THEY dug deep, they shed blood, they fought with the intensity of a world title fight.

The effort displayed by Dave Butlin and Ryan Whelan in their gruelling clash for the vacant Midlands light-heavyweight title should be applauded. In the end, Butlin’s better work in the early rounds proved decisive, with referee Chris Dean awarding the Tamworth man a 96-94 victory.

As promoter Jon Pegg said after the dust had settled on Saturday’s Holiday Inn, Birmingham Airport, 10 rounder: “This was a battle.”

It was a great advert for the sport. The two men, former amateur rivals, showed exemplary sportsmanship in the build-up, they left it all in the ring and Whelan took defeat with commendable sportsmanship: no excuse, simply congratulations for the winner.

They entered the ring with fairly limited experience – 30-year-old Butlin had won five, Whelan, aged 27, was also unbeaten, with six victories and a draw.

Forget the result, both came of age in their first taste of championship boxing.

They exchanged long punches in the first half of the contest, then punched it out at close quarters as fatigue set in. It was Whelan, part of Nechells’ famous fight family, the Holts, who finished the stronger, but by then Butlin had banked enough points to pocket the title.

Both showed the marks of a hard night’s work, Butlin cut over the nose, Whelan nicked over the left eye.

Pegg, who manages both, said: “I had a feeling Dave would be strong early, but Ryan is very tough and when the going gets hard people who are naturally tough have more success.”

Whelan missed out on a chance to make history. Uncle Mark Holt and cousin Paul had both collected Midland titles in their paid careers – he had the chance to make it a family treble.

On social media, Ryan posted: “Last night was a 10-round battle. A close, hard-fought contest that ended in a 96-94 points decision. Sadly, it didn’t go my way this time.

“It’s a bitter-sweet one to take, but a great experience, nonetheless. Massive credit to David Butlin, now the new Midlands light-heavyweight champion - a tough, worthy opponent and credit where it’s due.

“I know I shouldn’t apologise, but it’s hard not to. Of course, I would’ve loved to be walking out of that ring with the belt, but we take it on the chin, regroup and come again stronger.

“We go away, we regroup and see what's next from here.”

Waiting in the wings for Butlin is 44-year-old Cliff Henry, a serving soldier forced to the vacate the title because of injury.

The Hereford veteran stepped aside with the agreement he’d face the winner of Butlin and Whelan.

And fighting Henry will be no holiday camp for Butlin, if you’ll excuse the pun, judging by his comeback performance on Saturday’s show.

Bournemouth based Pole Tomasz Felsz was dropped in the second after being frozen by a long, straight right and rocked in the third.

Henry couldn’t apply the coup de grace, and Felsz managed to survive until the final bell, losing by a country mile – 40-35.

Henry, now unbeaten in six, carried real power in that right hand.