HIS opponent may have hit the canvass twice and thrown in the towel but novice Fight Night boxer Mark Dunlop was keen not to boast after vanquishing Welsh opponent Mike Williams on Saturday.

The match-up had been one of the more intriguing lower card bouts with the fitter Dunlop, a footballing Scot, taking on the heavier older rugby-playing Welshman Williams.

And it proved to be one of the more action-packed contests at the Teachers RFC evening of boxing despite only lasting two rounds.

Despite months of training and dieting under his belt Dunlop was far from cocky as he entered the ring in earnest for the first time.

"I was a bag of nerves just getting out in front of everyone ? I wasn't worried about the actual boxing. Everyone in the blue corner had won I didn't want to be the first to lose," he said.

Meanwhile Williams was even more apprehensive.

"I was a lot more nervous when I saw the fights. They were actually hitting each other. I could see people coming back bleeding, knackered and beaten up. There was lots of talk of not being fit enough."

Previous experiences as a spectator had not really led him to think about the implications of fighting in front of hundreds of people.

He said: "I would be drinking with the rest of the guys. You can't really see what's going on."

But as the clock ticked down to his fight the reality sunk in.

And then it was seconds out, round one. Dunlop's plan to tire his opponent out went out the window as soon as blows were exchanged.

Meanwhile Williams was overawed with hundreds of spectators looking on.

He said: "It was a bit unworldly. You can feel the electricity, after a few fights you feel the atmosphere. We got out there and it was like 'can I hit him now and can he hit me?' There was a lot of noise and I couldn't hear what my corner was saying to me. But then he really clobbered me.

"He was a bit relentless. He had the better of it, but I got a couple of punches but he was clearly a lot fitter than me. The first time I had got close in, I threw a punch and then I fell over."

The second round was no better for Williams.

"My corner was telling me I was in a bit of trouble and for some reason I should take the fight to him.

"As soon as the bell went he was all over me and all I could hear was him thudding into my head. I got knocked down but managed to drag myself up but everything went out of me at that point."

He didn't appear in the final round.

"Some people jeered. But this was my first time and I stepped in at the last minute. If I went back in I was going to get seriously battered."

For Dunlop, who was roared on by teammates from the MR Onions FC, it was a crowning moment after months.

"It could not have gone much better but I know a lot of it was the fact he had hardly trained," he said.

He had pulled out a performance not foreshadowed by his mediocre sparring.

"The trainers told me afterwards the difference between me sparring and the actual fight was night and day."

But he credits Williams for doing his best in the circumstances.

"He burst my nose and I was bleeding."

Dunlop is planning to keep up the boxing but Williams is not sure if he will bother fighting again.

He said: "I am 33 in a couple of months. It's a time when I should be getting into bowls and darts. But ask me at Christmas time next year. I might do more than a week's training ? maybe do two weeks training. It is a very, very pure sport but it's best to be prepared."

He too was full of tributes for his opponent. "He did well. We are still mates."