TEN bells rang out for Mike Towell at the SSE Hydro last night, as the sport to which the Dundonian fighter gave his life paid its respects in time-honoured fashion. A week after the Scot quietly passed away in a hospital in the city, after taking unwell following his defeat by Dale Evans, his death was marked with a combination of respectful hush and lusty applause from the gathered crowd in this state-of-the-art arena. It was a touching moment but Towell's peers in this generation of Scottish fighters were determined to pay their own individual tributes in the only way they know how. Mainly by knocking seven bells out of their respective opponents.

Scott Cardle was born in England, is the English champion and fights out of Lytham St Annes. But Glasgow is his spiritual home and last night he was an impressive as he defended his British lightweight title for the third time against Kevin Hooper of Grimsby. While the game Hooper was getting under Cardle's skin early on, landing a punch in the second round which inflicted damage on the exiled Scot's nose, Cardle recovered his poise and by halfway through the sixth round had his opponent pinned on the ropes with left and right hands raining in on him.

Thankfully referee Marcus McDonnell saw fit to end the fight there and then. While it allowed Cardle to record his 21st win from his 22 bouts to date, the 27-year-old admitted afterwards that thoughts of the tragic Towell hadn't been far away.

"It only entered my mind when I caught him," said Cardle. "When I caught him with that last flurry of shots, I thought about Mike straight away. I didn't hold back because that is the game we are in but I was hoping the referee was going to step in because I saw his eyes go. I would never wish ill health on anyone and I am glad that the referee stopped it."

Without his brother Joe, a footballer for Dunfermline, to carry Cardle's belt into the ring for him, that honour last night went to Celtic superfan Jay Beattie, but the real question is what happens to that Lonsdale belt now. While it is customary for fighters with three successful to keep their belts, that issue is complicated in Cardle's case by the fact that one of his, against Sean Dodd, was a draw.

"I have had a few hard fights for this belt so there may be a little dispute on the board's hands," said Cardle. “I’m my worst critic. I was still not completely happy. I just have to keep my head and keep my composure and I feel I did that - kind of. But it was better than my last performance and I didn’t get dragged in to anything silly."

Promoter Eddie Hearn said afterwards that he expected Cardle to fight one more time to keep the belt, but his sights would soon be set on European and Commonwealth titles. “I’ll keep an eye on Luke Campbell v Derry Matthews but I’ll fight anyone," said Cardle. "I need to see if I can keep the Lonsdale belt now but I’ve got a draw in my three defences so I don’t know. I want to keep it as it’s a dream of mine so I’ll do it in or outside the ring with another defence. I’d love to fight for big titles in Glasgow again."

If that fight was a slow burner, the opposite could be said of West Lothian middleweight Kieran Smith's encounter with Robert Asagwa. A competitor at the 2014 Commonwealth Games, Smith took just 18 seconds to dispose of his opponent and said afterwards that he is ready for a step up in class. He moved on to a perfect seven wins, with three of them by way of knockout.

"To be honest it was unexpected," said Smith. "I basically jabbed, faked the backhand, caught him with the upper cut and he fell. You don't get paid for overtime in this business. But my fans want me to move up and I feel like I am ready too."

Stewart Burt had both the privilege and misfortune of spending the last two weeks sparring with Towell - save for one occasion where the Dundonian halted the practice session early after complaining of feeling unwell. And he was a comfortable points winner here by a 40-36 scoreline against Aerturs Geikins of Bognor Regis, even if there there was confusion at one point as to whether the fight would end after four rounds or continue to six. "It was devastating news last week," he said afterwards. "A total tragedy. It was tough but it was good to get another win under my belt." Lewis Paulin, Scott McCormack and Ross Murray were other comfortable home winners on a badly-need night of Scottish success for the sport.

A fortnight or so after Bulgarian tennis star Grigor Dimitrov wore a kilt at this venue, yesterday it was the turn of Ian 'Lay 'em Out' Lewison to do so in a Battle of Brixton against Dillian Whyte for the vacant British Heavyweight title. Weighed down by plaid, the less-heralded fighter took a huge amount of punishment in this slugfest and at the end of round 10 his corner decided that they didn't want to see their man punished further. It was a brutal contest and this week of all weeks, referee Terry O'Connor simply appeared grateful to have the decision taken out of his hands.