England’s Joshua Buatsi dropped Willy Hutchinson twice on the way to an impressive points win over his light-heavyweight rival.

The bout was full of action, as Hutchinson fought bravely despite being repeatedly wounded by his opponent’s precise shots.

Buatsi dropped the Scot in the sixth with a looping right hand and then again in the ninth with a perfectly-placed left hook to the body.

Despite two knockdowns and a point deduction for Hutchinson, the judges surprisingly returned a split decision, as the scorecards read 113-112 for Hutchinson and 117-108 and 115-110 for Buatsi.

The 31-year-old appeared bemused as the result was confirmed, but lifted his fist in the air as he was announced the winner and retained his position as the number contender to the WBO belt.

He improved his undefeated record to 19 fights, while Hutchinson slipped to just his second loss in 20 bouts.

It was a setback for the 26-year-old Hutchinson, but after rising twice from knockdowns, his stock will have risen even in defeat.

He pushed forward in the final two rounds, trying to produce a last-gasp knockout, but Buatsi was able to dance away from the most dangerous shots.

With victory, the Londoner put himself in contention to fight the winner of the forthcoming undisputed fight between Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol in October.

In the co-main event of the night, Hamzah Sheeraz stayed undefeated with an impressive second-round knockout of Tyler Denny to claim the European middleweight title.

The 25-year-old was too powerful for 33-year-old Denny, dropping him in the opening seconds before finishing the job in the second.

Sheeraz is now unbeaten in 21 fights and extended his knockout streak to 15 bouts.