On the offensive from the opening bell Smedley quickly increased the pace, to such a degree that by the fourth round he was handing a one sided beating to the traveller from the midlands, hooks to both head and body connected frequently, as did jabs followed by vicious uppercuts that sickened the visitor and had Nicki continued in that vein he may well have scored an inside the distance victory.

As it was, the pace slowed a little towards the end as Nicki, with father Chris in the corner, opted to choose his shots carefully, switching to southpaw at times to further confuse his under fire opponent who by that stage had picked up a bloodied nose for his troubles.

Having impressed on his return Nicki will doubtless be stepped up again next time out, and looking to cement his place amongst the upper echelons of the domestic welterweight division he will be looking towards title shots of sorts in the not too distant future.