Luton's Graham Earl retained his British lightweight title after six frenetic rounds of action against old foe Steve Murray last night.

Relentless Earl came back from a shaky start to knock down his challenger in the third and eventually stop a bloodied Murray three rounds later.

Both boxers went into the fight with a point to prove after their last meeting in February 2003, when Earl won inside two rounds in a southern area title challenge.

And the two were met by an electric atmosphere at London's York Hall with large sets of supporters from the fighters' respective towns making the journey.

The clash got off to an explosive start with Earl surviving a Murray onslaught for the first two rounds that saw the Harlow man landing a number of shots.

But the tide turned in the third round when Murray suffered a deep cut below his right eye before being knocked to his knees by a huge Earl right-hander towards the end of the round.

With Murray seeping blood from his wound, Earl sensed victory and took the fourth with a number of telling blows that saw Murray then develop a cut above his left eye.

Murray gamely fought back, but with blood streaming from his two cuts and with Earl picking off the punches at will, the fight was eventually stopped in the sixth with Murray in no state to continue.