Barry Jones' two-year battle to regain his WBO super-featherweight title ended in gallant failure at Doncaster Dome on Saturday night.

Jones admitted that champion Acelino Freitas "just hit too hard" after he hit the canvas six times on his way to an eighth-round stoppage by the Brazilian.

After an extraordinary start when Jones - without a single knockout to his name - floored Freitas with a left hook with the first punch of the fight he was forced into defensive mode.

Jones was down twice in round one, which he finished with cuts under both eyes, and again in the second, third, seventh and eighth before trainer Ronnie Rush wisely threw in the towel.

Freitas inevitably turned his attentions to Naseem Hamed, saying: "If Hamed comes up to my weight it will be an excellent fight.

"First I will unify the titles then go for Hamed."

Jones had boxed beautifully on the back foot to stay in the fight in rounds four and five.

"It's ironic really, the first time I put somebody down is the first time I get stopped," said Jones after the fight.

"I was beaten by the better man. His punches physically hurt and mentally I gave up."

The 25-year-old Cardiff fighter decided to fight Freitas despite failing a brain scan two years ago.

The British Boxing Board of Control's decision to allow Jones back into the ring has been widely criticised and has sparked a storm of protest from the anti-boxing lobby.

But the management team behind Welsh boxer Barry Jones said independent doctors believed the fighter was not risking his life by continuing his ring career.

The former World Champion super-featherweight was stripped of his crown after the brain scan scare two years ago.

Andy Ayling of Sports Network management team said Jones had been given the 'all clear'.

"Eight independent doctors have all passed Barry Jones fit to fight," Mr Ayling told BBC Wales.

It will be Jones' second fight since having the green light to carry on boxing following an appeal hearing 14 months ago.

Newpapers have reported several medical experts and commentators who have called for him to be barred.

Professor Gareth Roberts, an expert in the link between boxing injuries and Alzheimer's disease, said of Jones: "This man is literally putting his life in someone else's hands.

"He is dicing with death," the professor added.

The veteran commentator Harry Carpenter was quoted as saying the fight should not be allowed to go ahead.

"My personal view is that boxers who have any sign of brain damage should not box again," he said.

Jones won the WBO title in 1997 by out-pointing veteran Colombian Wilson Palacios at the London Arena.

But plans for a lucrative defence in Paris were wrecked when his routine annual brain scan showed tissue changes.

Brain scan scare

A slight increase in the gap between two brain membranes prompted the British Boxing Board of Control to withdraw his licence.

Jones returned to boxing with a points victory over Chris Williams in Cardiff last June.

He remains unbeaten in his professional career.