Walsh bags knockout bonus

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Ryan Walsh found some power shots in the ninth to stun Hairon Socarras and force the stoppage

Ryan Walsh bagged a £5,000 knockout bonus after stopping Hairon Socarras in the Golden Contract quarter-finals at York Hall.

Walsh secured his spot in the semi-finals of the eight-man featherweight tournament after stopping the previously undefeated Cuban in the ninth round.

Socarras targeted the body in the opener, slipping a hook from Walsh before switching from orthodox to southpaw.

The Cuban continued whipping in shots to the torso in the second, while tournament favourite and British champion Walsh replied with a crisp combination.

Walsh rocked Socarras with a solid punch and forced his opponent to hold after a determined assault in the third but the 26-year-old replied in the next round with a decent right hand.

A huge right hook left Socarras dazed in the fifth and a big left hand quickly followed, sending him staggering backwards onto the ropes with the referee ruling it as a knockdown.

The pair traded body thundering shots in the sixth and as the fight turned into a brutal battle referee Bob Williams warned both fighters to keep it clean.

Socarras had regained his composure by the seventh and tested Walsh with a heavy right hand, but the Norfolk fighter responded in the next round with some punishing hooks in a bid to reassert his authority.

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Walsh celebrates victory with his brothers after halting Socarras

Walsh stunned Socarras with a right hand in the ninth before unleashing a barrage of unanswered blows which left Williams no choice but to wave off the fight on the 2:39 mark.

Watch Gennadiy Golovkin against Sergiy Derevyanchenko in the early hours of Sunday morning, from 2am on Sky Sports Action.