Shabaz Masoud drew a line under 13 months of inactivity to claim the vacant European junior featherweight title with a unanimous decision victory over Peter McGrail.

The Maverick boxed beautifully against his opponent from Liverpool, who also lost a point for rabbit punching, to rack up a reasonably clear victory at Salle des Etoiles, Monaco live on DAZN.

Masoud said: “It was a wicked fight and I know I was up against it. I know Peter’s pedigree, he’s a very skilful fighter so credit to him as well.

“A lot of the time when I start I just take information in and as the rounds went by it just got easier and easier.”

The pair had been scheduled to meet in Birmingham on June 21 only for an injury to Masoud to force a postponement.

Now, nearly six months on, they finally met in Monte Carlo in a clash to decide Britain’s best at 122 pounds and a new European junior featherweight champion. The injury meant this was Masoud’s first outing since November last year, when he beat another of his domestic rivals, Liam Davies, via split decision.

He then had to emerge for this fight just an hour after his stablemate Pat McCormack was stopped by 9/1 underdog Conah Walker on the undercard in Monaco.

But Masoud did not have time to warm into this one as his fellow southpaw McGrail got straight on the front foot in a bid to force him back. Masoud got a sharp one-two off early on but otherwise it was McGrail forcing the pace and the action.

Even so, Masoud looked comfortable and landed with two hard back hands of his own as the opener approached its conclusion. McGrail emerged for the second with similar vigour and got his reward when he landed with a crisp one-two of his own. He finished the round by landing another one with Masoud trapped in the corner.

The man from the famous Everton Red Triangle club would have been very happy with his start to the clash while Masoud, not overawed, was taking his time to work himself the openings. The third was another solid one for McGrail, 29, but in the fourth it started to look as though Masoud was finding his range. By the fifth, the man from Stoke was well in his groove, landing with a hard, straight backhand.

The pattern of each passing round was similar, with McGrail spending much of each session applying pressure with his front foot while Masoud was happy to circle around the outside. But with a combined total of just 10 stoppages from their 26 professional wins, it was becoming clear that this was going to be a distance fight.

With 40 seconds left of the seventh, Masoud landed a beautiful rear uppercut on the counter but McGrail roared back and finished the round on the attack himself.

Late in the eighth, McGrail was down on his back but the referee correctly judged it a slip. However, from the very start of the ninth, he found himself in real trouble as Masoud started to turn the screw, stalking him down and landing hard singles to head and body. It was a crisis moment for the Liverpudlian, which began with another particularly sharp left uppercut, but he managed to stay on his feet until the end of the round.

He then made a very promising start to the 10th but that progress was checked when referee Giuseppe Quartarone decided to deduct a point when he hit Masoud on the back of the head in the clinch. After little to choose between them it felt like a potentially pivotal moment but McGrail had a good 11th and then continued to press the issue in the final round.

Masoud, seemingly tiring, was throwing very little which only opened the door for McGrail to continue his attack.

Masoud ended the fight with his arms aloft as he danced around the outside, and the judges agreed he was the winner, returning scores of 116-111, 115-112 and 114-113.

When asked what he wants next, Masoud suggested that a move up to featherweight to fight McGrail’s stablemate Nick Ball, the WBA champion, is his primary target.

He said: I’ve got big plans. I’m struggling making super-bantamweight and I don’t mind moving up for a world title. There’s a British world champion at the weight above, Nick Ball, he’s from their gym as well. That’s the fight I want. I need to move up.”

His promoter Eddie Hearn added: “Not many people will want to take on Shabaz, they know his skill and quality and he will be punching harder at 126 pounds. This is a massive win.”