Caroline Dubois appeared on course for a successful first defence of her WBC lightweight title after dissecting Jessica Camara for the best part of two rounds but an accidental clash of heads left the Canadian unable to continue, forcing the 24-year-old rising star into an anticlimactic technical draw.

Last August, Dubois (10-0-1, 5 KOs) claimed the interim title with a wide unanimous decision over Uruguay’s Maira Moneo but was upgraded last month when former champion Katie Taylor decided to relinquish her belt and concentrate on other opportunities as she winds down her extraordinary career.

Boxing on her 24th birthday, Dubois made an explosive start to what promises to be a long reign of her own, dropping Camara (14-4-1, 3 KOs) with a southpaw left hand within the opening minute.

Dubois was too young, too quick and just too good for the Canadian veteran whose face was a bloodied, swollen mess by the midpoint of round two. A cut over her left eye was apparently caused by a clash of heads but her right eye was also badly swollen. At the start of the third, a doctor inspected Camara’s eye and ruled her unable to continue.

The stain on her previously perfect record will frustrate Dubois but she was well on her way to a dominant victory and can continue to press on with her career.

Although a fight with Taylor looks to have slipped away, Dubois still has plenty of high-profile options. After the bout's anticlimactic ending, she called for a unification fight with WBO champion Terri Harper whilst she and Brazil’s IBF title holder Beatriz Ferreira had been mentioned in the same breath for some time.

The cruiserweight contest between Scott Forrest (7-0, 4 KOs) and Deevorn Miller (8-3, 6 KOs) was brief and dramatic.

Miller immediately found Forrest easy to hit and quickly grew in confidence. Just as the heavy-handed Londoner began to run through the gears, he walked into a big right hand and found himself on the floor.

Although he popped up with a smile on his face, he was hurt but failed to learn from his mistake. In the second, Miller again broke through but carelessly walked into another right hand from the patient Forrest. This time he didn’t beat the count. The official time was 1:49, a first stoppage after three consecutive decision victories.

Scottish middleweight Sam Hickey (2-0, 1 KO) blew away Lewis Howells (3-2), dropping him three times inside the opening round.

Body shots did the damage for the 25-year-old. Howells went over for the first time when Hickey tagged a hard body shot on the end of a snappy combination. Although he got up, the writing was on the wall - dropped twice more with well picked left hooks downstairs. The third knockdown was

Hickey was a decorated amateur who won gold medal at the 2022 Commonwealth Games and although the Dundee man is still only dipping his toe into the world of professional boxing, he is clearly already too talented for this level of opposition.

The pick of the untelevised undercard action saw Billy Deniz (13-0, 5 KOs) and Mickey Ellison (15-8, 5 KOs) meet over eight rounds at light heavyweight.

The fiery Deniz fights out of Joe Gallagher’s Champs Camp stable in Manchester and has become a popular attraction on the small hall circuit. The aggressive 24-year-old - who is known as ‘The Turkish Tyson’ - is a crowd pleasing fighter and, keen to make his mark, stunned Ellison with a big left hook within the opening moments.

Former Central Area champion Ellison has a patchy record but is a capable fighter with decent fundamentals. He covered up and answered back with some nice right hands of his own. He kept things steady and his punches straight while the looser, more explosive Deniz, moved and tried to walk him into power shots.

Ellison just didn’t do enough. Deniz landed the cleaner shots and began to score more regularly with combinations as the fight wore on. He deserved the tight 77-76 decision he was awarded.

Mauro Silva, 7-0 (3 KOs), remained unbeaten with a six-round decision win over Emmanuel Zion at middleweight.

The ambitious Zion, 6-3 (3 KOs), represented a reasonable step up in opposition for Silva and got his attention with a couple of left hooks in the opener. For the first time, Silva faced an opponent who refused to go into his shell and provided solid resistance throughout but the confident 22 year old took it in his stride. After six rounds, Silva was given a 59-56 decision.

The unbeaten Mancunian is a spiteful fighter who will be better for the experience. It will be interesting to see how much backing he is given and just how quickly he is pushed over the next twelve months.

‘The Wild Child’ Ellis Price, 2-0 (1 KO), got the show underway with a straightforward first-round stoppage of Sheffield debutant Liam Fitzmaurice, 0-1, at lightweight.

Price, 21, was a talented youth amateur who won bronze at the European Schoolboy Championships. He was just too talented for Fitzmaurice who was floored twice in the opening round. Eventually, Price pinned Fitzmaurice in a corner and unloaded until the referee stepped in to stop the action.