Gavin forced to work hard for win

Gavin's fight was his hardest yet in the pro ranks

Former world amateur champion Frankie Gavin scored his fifth straight win as a pro with a hard-fought stoppage of Samir Tergaoui in Newcastle.

Gavin, 24, forced the referee to step in with nine seconds remaining in the sixth and final round, but not before being bruised and bloodied.

Olympic middleweight champion James DeGale also remained undefeated with a low-key points defeat of Nathan King.

And Billy Joe Saunders outpointed Lee Noble over six rounds.

All three fights were on the undercard of Amir Khan's WBA light-welterweight defence against Dmitriy Salita at the Metro Radio Arena.

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Gavin's was his most useful workout to date against an opponent who had won two of his previous three fights by first-round knockout.

The Birmingham southpaw, who did not fight in Beijing after failing to make weight, pushed forward from the start, catching the attacking Frenchman with looping right hands.

But he sustained plenty of punishment himself, and had blood around his nose from the fourth round onwards.

But Gavin wore down his opponent in the dying seconds, flooring him with a crisp straight left and following up with similar shots until the referee stepped in, perhaps prematurely.

Beijing gold medallist James DeGale looked a little lacklustre in an abridged, low-key, four-round points win over Welsh journeyman King.

Londoner DeGale, 23, struggled to get into his stride against an opponent without a win since November 2006 and, after going through the motions for a 40-37 success, his dissatisfaction was plain to see.

Hatfield southpaw Saunders, 20, never needed to get out of first gear as he skated to a shut-out points win over his Barnsley opponent.

Saunders fought in the welterweight division at last year's Olympics, where he reached the second round.