Josh Taylor remains unbeaten after successfully defending his WBC Silver Super Lightweight title in Edinburgh last night. The Prestonpans fighter became the first man to stop Miguel Vazquez, catching him with a brutal body shot in the ninth round, which left the Mexican on the canvas - and he did not get back up.

The 4500-strong crowd got their money’s worth though, with his opponent proving as tough as everyone predicted before the Scot systematically broke him down, ending the bout with two upper cuts to the chin, a left hook to the head before finishing him off with a right hand to the body to knock him down.

Taylor weighed-in only one pound heavier than Vazquez at 9 stone 13lbs 2oz but he looked considerably bigger than the wiry Mexican.

The first round was a close affair, with both fighters scoping each other out. The Commonwealth Games gold medallist has been praised by manager Barry McGuigan for his unpredictability and he showed that as early as round one, beginning the round as a south paw and ending it in an orthodox stance.

Late in the second round, a head clash caused a cut above Taylor’s left eye but the Edinburgh man seemed unconcerned. He was beginning to find his range with shots to Vazquez’s body but the Mexican did not hold the world lightweight title for four years for nothing and was defending himself well, with little to split the pair.

Round five was Taylor’s best round up until that point, catching Vazquez with three good left hands while in the sixth, with WBA super middleweight champion George Groves and Celtic striker Leigh Griffiths watching on, the Scot picked up the pace and looked to be growing in confidence.

Taylor predicted that Vazquez would be a tricky opponent and he was right, with the Mexican expert at avoiding shots and minimising Taylor’s power. But finally, after 2 minutes and 13 seconds of the ninth round, the first time that Taylor has been taken to this late stage in a fight, he finished the contest in impressive style, improving his record to 11-0.

“He was very tough, he took some goods shots but that was good, I’m very happy,” said Taylor. “I knew I was starting to get to him with body shots and the first really good body shot I hit him with, he went down. And these are the best fans in the world, the noise was unbelievable.”

Jason Easton maintained his unbeaten record at the Royal Highland Centre on the outskirts of Edinburgh last night but make no mistake about it, he was made to work for it. The Edinburgh fighter was defending his IBO Inter-Continental Super Lightweight title against Josef Zahradnik from the Czech Republic and it took twelve rounds of relentless punching before Easton was awarded the victory by unanimous decision.

This was boxing at its most brutal. It is unlikely that there are many more durable fighters than Zahradnik, who took a hell of a beating yet remained standing. The Czech fighter, who went into this bout with a 9-0 record, was on the end of a flurry of punches but he refused to go down. At times, it seemed that nothing less than a baseball bat would floor him.

From the first bell, there was no hanging about, and early on, a clash of heads left Easton with a bad cut above his left eye, which left blood steaming down his face for the remainder of the fight.

Several times in the last few rounds, Easton went in for the kill but somehow, Zahradnik weathered the storm and Easton just couldn’t deliver the knock-out blow.

On hearing the final bell, the crowd were in no doubt as to who had won, but the respect that Zahradnik had earned over the previous 45 minutes was evident.

Easton left the ring bloodied but the first successful defence of his IBO Inter-Continental Super Lightweight title, which moved him to 11-0, will live long in the memory of everyone who witnessed it. ““He’s a very tough guy so respect to him,” said the 26 year-old. “I knew I could last the full twelve rounds though - I was feeling relaxed the whole way through the fight and I knew he wasn’t going to hurt me.”

The clash of heads gave Easton’s support cause for concern but the Edinburgh man wasn’t unduly worried, although he was conscious that leaving things up to the judges is never the safest option. “I knew that if they went to the scorecards, I was going to win so I felt in control,” he said. “But I didn’t want to take that chance so I tried to take him out but he was taking some right good shots.”

Another Edinburgh fighter made an equally strong impression. Lee McGregor, making his maiden professional appearance having only signed with Barry McGuigan’s Cyclone Promotions a few weeks ago, showed absolutely no signs of nerves on his debut, defeating Stefan Sashov of Bulgaria in impressive style.

There were also wins for Scottish fighters Craig MacIntyre and Michael McGurk, as well as Nottingham’s Chantelle Cameron.