There was a mixture of satisfaction and frustration for rising St Ives star Bradley Smith following his return to the ring.

There was a mixture of satisfaction and frustration for rising St Ives star Bradley Smith following his return to the ring.

The lightweight talent extended his perfect record to eight fights with a points success against Ivan Godor at the York Hall in London last Saturday night.

Smith showed his punching power when rocking Godor with a straight right in the opening round of his first outing for eight months.

The 20 year-old also landed a sweet uppercut in the third round, but was left surprised by the tactics employed by his veteran Bulgarian opponent for the vast majority of the contest.

Smith said: “It was just an easy four rounds, but it was good to get them under my belt and build my fitness up.

“I’ve seen Godor in previous fights when he has come forward and put pressure on. He concussed another fighter from my gym and cut another one by using his head.

“He is known as a strong guy, but I’m massive at the weight. He just spent the rest of the night on his bike after I caught him in the first round.

“I was banging my gloves together and gesturing for him to get into the centre of the ring, but he still wasn’t interested.

“It was good just to be back in the ring, but frustrating not to be able show more of the things we’ve worked on during a long camp.”

Smith, who is trained at West Ham Boxing Club by Barry Smith, is expected to fight again in early June. He hopes to go back up to six rounds for that next outing and is also keen to see the calibre of his opponent rise.

He added: “I feel I’m ready to move up the ladder a bit now. Every fight so far has been pretty straightforward even though some of my opponents have caused problems to other good prospects.

“It’s about making gradual steps and the next one for me is to be in there with a better fighter. I’ve still not lost a round in my pro career after eight fights so that shows I need to be challenged.”