The scores of the clash, which took place on the undercard of Joshua Buatsi's vacant WBC light heavyweight title fight against Willy Hutchinson, read 114-113, 116-111, 116-111.

Unbeaten Rafferty (28-0-1, 18 KOs) is a former British junior welterweight champion but moving to 147 pounds seems to have given the 31-year-old from Shaw a new lease of life.

Matirosyan (20-2, 12 KOs) is mostly known for his solid but unsuccessful bid to beat Pierce O’Leary back in 2024. He is a skilful, clever fighter and made a confident start to his first fight at the weight.

The Belgian used his feet well and managed to prevent Rafferty from getting into range and stabbing away with the thudding, heavy power shots that have quickly become his trademark.

Slowly but surely, Rafferty started to edge closer and make Matirosyan exchange more. His pressure began to tell and he stabbed away with his jab and caught Matirosyan’s counters on his gloves.

Matirosyan continued to look for his overhand right but the tide turned in the sixth round when he hurt Rafferty with a left hook to the body.

Many of Rafferty’s opponents had been worn down by the eighth but Matirosyan seemed to be growing in confidence. He continued to look for his left to the body and made sure to answer back whenever Rafferty had any success but by the ninth, the home fighter found his rhythm and had the fight at the pace he wanted.

The 10th was a hard round for both and although he got cut over his right eye, Rafferty got the better of it and he seemed to finally break through and hurt the rock solid Matirosyan in the 11th.

Matirosyan spent the 12th backpedaling and as the clapper signalled the final 10 seconds, he sagged backwards through the ropes as a right hand landed. Although he got to his feet unhurt, the referee decided to call a knockdown.

As it turned out, the knockdown didn’t affect the scorecards and Rafferty passed the type of test every fighter must if they are to make it to the very top.

Brad Rea moved himself another step closer to the top of the British light heavyweight rankings after blowing away Ezra Taylor in the second round of a crossroads battle.

In March, Taylor (13-2, 9 KOs) lost his unbeaten record when Willy Hutchinson outfoxed him over 10 rounds. The Malik Scott-trained fighter returned to his training base in California and set about improving himself.

Rea (23-2, 12 KOs) knows the sting of defeat. After an early career loss to Tyler Denny, Rea rebuilt successfully at 175 pounds and won the European title. He subsequently lost that belt to Lyndon Arthur but, in May, he returned to action and knocked out Liam Cameron in four impressive rounds.

He repeatedly stated that he was expecting the best Ezra Taylor yet and fought on high alert.

A cagey opener momentarily exploded into life with a hard exchange in center ring that Rea seemed to get the better of. It was a sign of things to come.

Midway through the second, both held their feet and let their hands go. Rea landed a picture perfect left hook that dropped Taylor heavily. He somehow got back to his feet and was allowed to continue fighting but the end was nigh. Rea let both hands go and the referee stepped in to stop the fight.

Gully Powar finally got his hands on the British featherweight title after beating Zak Miller by technical decision.

An exciting fight went to the scorecards in the 10th round after an accidental foul caused a huge swelling to blow up on Miller’s forehead.

Powar was awarded a unanimous decision. The scores were 96-94, 97-95, 96-95.

On April 4 Powar (14-1-1, 1 KO) made the trip to Cardiff to fight Rhys Edwards for the vacant British title. He pushed the pace for every second of the 12-round fight and appeared extremely unfortunate to have to settle for a majority draw.

Powar’s second bid to win the title once again led him into his opponent’s backyard. This time, the 24-year-old will go home to Wolverhampton with the famous belt after winning an all action fight with Miller (17-2, 3 KOs).

Struggling to find his range after a 16-month spell out of the ring due to a biceps injury, Miller repeatedly looked disorganized as he backed away from the relentless Powar but began to find his timing in the third and landed some well picked right hands.

Never taking a backwards step, Powar continued to pursue Miller. His best work came when he punched in combination. Whenever the two boxed at range, Miller’s quicker, more eye-catching punches kept him a half-step ahead but it was hard, bruising work.

Miller tried to change to flow of the fight in the seventh by pushing Powar back onto the back foot. That is a task easier said than done and Powar let both hands go as he fought for the center of the ring.

Sporting a huge swelling on the left side of his forehead, Miller landed some beautiful counter shots but Powar absorbed them and pressed forwards.

Miller survived the ringside doctor's inspection midway through the ninth but absorbed a big left hook in the 10th and the swelling began to spread. This time, the doctor had no option but to stop the fight.