Those who traveled from the East Midlands to watch Jack Perry and Courtney Owen box in Sheffield had to wait until 11-o-clock to see their men step into action.
But despite the lateness of their fights - taking place after the Sky Sports-televised main event - it was worth the wait as both secured four-round victories on the Ricky Hatton-promoted bill at Sheffield's Ponds Forge Leisure Centre on Saturday night [March 24].
Derby welterweight Perry [pictured] improved his unbeaten professional run to 17 [one draw, two early] with a 12-minute shut-out of winless Earl's Court-based South African Bheki Moyo [10st 10lbs], 37 and who's still searching for the elusive 'W' 42 outings into his career.
And it never looked as though it would arrive on Saturday as Ingle-trained Perry - enthusiastically supported at ringside by heavyweight gym mate Richard Towers, who'd registered an impressive five-round stoppage earlier in the night - dominated the action.
The 24-year-old ex-One Nation ABC unpaid performer finished unmarked and it was little wonder. His footwork too nimble to be troubled by Moyo's wild swings, Jack worked off the jab throughout, followed through with hooks, before driving in lefts to the body.
A neatly-threaded uppercut and right hook to the ribs in the fourth underlined the Midlander's dominance - matched by referee Michael Alexander's 40-36 scoreline.
"The first body shot landed and he smiled," said well-supported Perry [10st 8lbs], who must be in the running to box for Jason Welborn's Area 10st 7lbs title and who's ranked at eight in MidlandsBoxing's latest ratings. "But after the 20th shot landed in the same place, he looked like he wanted out."
Talking of fighters who wanted out, Karl Bell [14st 1lb] looked like, at times, he'd rather be anywhere but between the ropes during his show-closing four-rounder with Nottingham's Courtney Owen [13st 11lbs].
The Rotherham cruiserweight entered protecting a two-fight unbeaten ledger that saw both victories arrive at the expense of Nottinghamshire-based Simeon Cover. But unlike ex-Ingle disciple Cover, who launches his punches from unusual angles, Owen came plowing forward and the gamble paid off.
There were a few raised eyebrows at ringside when referee Howard Foster lifted Courtney's glove skywards, but i thought it was the right decision. The well-respected Yorkshireman tallied a 39-37 scoreline that was a tad wider than the 39-38 conclusion i came to.
Whatever the margins of victory were, Owen's work-rate and determination won out. After exchanging jabs in the opening round, the East Midlander attacked with two-fisted vigour - rattling the 30-year-old local in the second with a short left on the ropes.
A clash of heads left Courtney bleeding from the forehead and Karl sliced on the left eyebrow late in that same session and then Bell, now 2-1, edged a hard-to-score third for me. On my card there was all to play for in the last but it was Owen's thumping left that took the round and the fight.
The improving 25-year-old from Nottingham lost his first two professional outings [including a shocking one-round stoppage to light-hitting Reagan Denton 13 months ago] but with a bit of belief has since secured back-to-back wins over a brace of decent fighters.
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