WITH his arm lifted in triumph, a professional boxer from Prudhoe marked his 30th birthday in the best possible fashion.

For Scott Westgarth, who only turned pro in late 2013, earned the International Challenge Belt at light heavyweight with a win on points over reigning champion Hasan Karkardi.

On a packed card at Bristol City FC's Ashton Gate stadium, the son of John 'Mean Machine' Westgarth who famously inflicted a first defeat on Glenn McCrory, was awarded the win over Iranian national Karkardi after eight rounds of energetic boxing.

It was the perfect way to start his 30th birthday celebrations, particularly as Karkardi had been awarded the win when the two initially met in April under controversial circumstances.

Westgarth said: "We boxed three months ago and he got the decision but it was all very controversial as it was stopped in the fifth round. They said it was stopped for a clash of heads, but I think it was off me and then he went on to get the result.

"His promoter rang asking if we wanted a rematch, and it was an opportunity I couldn't turn down even though I knew it would be difficult to get the decision at his home venue.

"It was a tough gig but I floored him in the second but he was fit and recovered well, and he was deducted a point for holding in the seventh.

"I thought I had done enough to get the decision as I knew I had definitely won a couple of rounds, but there was still that bit of doubt in my mind because I know how close it can be.

"The result came back in my favour and I was just over the moon. It's still sinking in now really and I'm quite overwhelmed by it all, especially at the time as I didn't really know what was going on!"

The title caps a great rise through the ranks for Westgarth who only took up boxing six years ago, moving up through from amateur to semi-pro before signing up as a full professional just under three years ago.

Working with his team at Sheffield Boxing Centre under the expert guidance of Glyn Rhodes MBE, the 30-year-old is starting to make a name for himself with fights in his native North-East touted following his capture of the belt.

The hard work begins again this week as he returns to the gym, looking forward to the challenges which lay ahead.

He said: "When I turned professional, my only intention was just to win one fight. If I had 10 fights, I just wanted to win one as a pro.

"I lost my debut but that was probably because I underestimated how tough pro boxing would be compared to semi-pro, but then I won my second when I got it stopped in the second round and I though 'I can do this'.

"I won the next one and it just gave me a lot of confidence to go after bigger and better things, and I'm just taking it one step at a time to see how far I can go with it.

"This belt will open up a lot more doors for me and I'm up for fighting anyone, and a good thing is that people now want to fight me and try to take the belt off me."