Tommy Langford beaten for first time

Langford knew he was taking a risk by facing the much-avoided Georgian, but with the interim WBO middleweight belt on the line and a chance to take on Saunders who holds the full title he had no hesitation in taking the fight.  

Khurtsidze, six inches shorter in height and reach, made a confident start and landed with a swift left hook in the opener as he poured forward in relentless fashion.

Langford, 27, did better in the second, working well behind his jab and moving cleverly out of range but suffered a setback in the third when a clash of heads left him with a nasty cut above his left eye.

Disaster struck at the start of the fifth Langford was caught with another left hook that this time put him down. He beat the count but the referee felt he was in no position to continue and waved the fight off after 27 seconds as the Briton suffered the first defeat of his professional career.

Promoter Frank Warren confirmed Saunders will defend his world title against Khurtsidze on July 8, at a venue to be confirmed.

Tyrone Nurse hung on to his British super-lightweight title with a hard-fought majority draw against Joe Hughes.

It was the champion's first outing since beating Hull warrior Tommy Coyle last July and there were signs of ring rust early on as he struggled with both his range and timing.

Hughes, giving away plenty in height and reach, countered well on the inside, landing some eye-catching upper-cuts in particular.

But 27-year-old Nurse settled and used his sharp jab and fast hooks to keep Hughes at distance and looked to have finished the stronger of the two.

However, the judges were split with one calling it 116-113 for Nurse, one 115-113 for Hughes and the third 115-115 which was enough for Nurse to retain the belt.

South African stylist Zolani Tete picked up the vacant WBO interim world bantamweight strap with a dominant points win over former world-title challenger Arthur Villanueva.

UK-based Tete - the only man to beat Ellesmere Port's former IBF world champion Paul Butler - was in charge from the first bell, with a clash of heads in the opening round cutting Villanueva above the right eye.

Southpaw Tete (25-3, 20KOs) then rocked the Filipino in the third with a left hand before taking a low blow.

Villanueva was down in the 11th after a straight left which put the icing on the cake for 29-year-old Tete who earned a unanimous 119-108, 119-108, 120-107 decision to put himself among the mix with the current world champions at 118lbs, including British duo Jamie McDonnell and Lee Haskins. 

Also on the undercard, Lyon Woodstock gave the home fans plenty to cheer with an impressive third-round stoppage of Birmingham's Paul Holt to claim the Midlands Area super-featherweight title.

Champion Holt made a fast start, landing well with jabs and hooks with Woodstock looking in trouble in the opening three minutes.

But 23-year-old Woodstock (9-0, 5KOs) got going in the second, pinning Holt against the ropes with a terrific left hook.

He really let his shots go in the third, forcing Holt back and a left hook, straight right was enough for the referee to stop the contest at 2:45.

Home favourite Jahmaine Smyle lost his English super-middleweight title after a fight-of-the-year contender with Darryll Williams.

An accidental clash of heads left south London challenger Williams with a deep cut on his left eyelid, but he kept his composure as the fight ebbed and flowed with the pair prepared to stand in the middle of the ring for long spells and trade.

Unbeaten Williams (15-0, 6KOs) perhaps landed the more telling shots and after 10 gruelling rounds was given a split decision, 97-93, 98-93, 95-96.

Anthony Yarde warmed up for next month's Southern Area light-heavyweight title challenge against Chris Hobbs by blowing away Sheffield's Darren Snow inside a round.

The unbeaten Londoner (10-0, 9KOs) secured an early knockdown with a right hook to the body and the same shot had Snow down again. He looked to have bravely beaten the count, but at seven sank back to his knees in obvious pain and the fight was waved off after 2:17. 

It was several minutes before the Yorkshireman was able to get back to his feet and he left the ring with a suspected broken rib as Yarde secured his sixth win the first round.   

Heavyweight prospect Daniel Dubois made it two wins out of two in the paid ranks by halting Cameroon's Blaise Mendouo in the second round.

The 19-year-old Londoner - whose professional debut lasted just 35 seconds against Marcus Kelly earlier this month - had Mendouo in trouble at the start of the second, cleverly picking left and right hands with his opponent trapped on the ropes and the fight was halted after 48 seconds.