Castleford's Antony Holmes wins world BKB middleweight title

The Castleford bare-knuckle boxer was given his shot at the world middleweight crown and took it with both hands when sensationally beating Daniel Lerwell.

Up against a Welsh opponent known as bareknuckle boxing’s knockout king, the 36-year-old Holmes stood up to the challenge and ultimately landed the bigger punches to record a memorable victory.

Heavy-handed Lerwell had chinned all his previous opponents, but the Castleford fighter had extra motivation to be one he could not beat as he was determined to make it a winning finish for the Ludus Magnus gym in Doncaster before it closes as he was their last fighter in action in the ring.

He is also driven by the memory of his late father, Dean, and had to dig deep after a tough first round showed him just what he was up against, but got the job done by round three after delivering a knockout punch of his own to take the title.

Holmes previously won the British super-middleweight and light-heavyweight titles in BKB, but this was a step up and Holmes took it in his stride with a performance full of fire.

After the fight he said: “I said I was going to be world champion when I first started.

"That’s three fights, three belts.

“I’ve knocked out the knockout artist so what more can you say. I’m overwhelmed.

“Thank you for everybody helping me get here. BKB’s for me, I don’t mind tearing it up. I can box, I can brawl.”

Castleford Tigers set to take on Leeds Rhinos on new summer date for Magic Weekend