Super-bantamweight spartan Barney Stokes confident of becoming Burnley's first World champion boxer!

The former Sandygate ABC boxer wasn't pulling any punches after marking his professional debut with victory.

The 20-year-old firmly believes that he'll achieve more than any other fighter to represent the region in the sport.

"I've got even more belief that I'll go on to win world titles after my debut," he said. "I know I can go all the way. I'm definitely looking for belts, starting out with an area title. I'll build my way up from there.

"I'll just listen to whatever my coach tells me. I know all the lads from around here, but I believe that I can be the best fighter from this region. They haven't had the background that I've had.

"I know I can be the best boxer from the area and I would love to showcase that at Colne Muni. I've never been there so that's a box that I'd like to tick off."

Stokes, a two-time national champion and Tri-Nation’s gold medallist, has teamed up with former world kickboxing champion Johnney Roye at MTK Global's Manchester branch in his pursuit of treasure.

Their partnership got off to the perfect start as the ex-England international, who also trained alongside the likes of Dennis McCann at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield under the expert eye of performance coach Mick Driscoll, got off the mark at the first time of asking.

Coming in at 133.5lbs, he out-pointed journeyman Jake Pollard after four rounds of boxing at the Bolton Whites Hotel. Referee Jamie Kirkpatrick awarded every round to Stokes prior to Jack Rafferty, Josh Padley and Muhammad Ali Zahid maintaining their unbeaten records.

Stokes, who attended Great Marsden St Johns C of E Primary School in Nelson, said: "I'm feeling very good. Winning my debut made all the hard work worth it. The fight worked out how I was expecting it to. I was feeling him out in the first round and as soon as I switched it up that was it.

"I was comfortable. I thought I'd taken him out with a body shot in the third round, he was going down, but he kept grabbing me and holding me and he survived until the final bell.

"We'd worked on letting the combinations go in the gym, while staying relaxed and trying to keep the work rate up for all four rounds. I thought it was perfect so I was more than happy with my performance."

The youngster's bloodline is enriched with battle-hardened gladiators, who hail from an Irish traveller background. His father, Edward, won several amateur titles with Repton Boxing Club in Bethnal Green while his brothers – Tom, John and Edward – have all competed.

And, with nearly 100 tickets sold for his bow, a raucous crowd watched the next generation follow in his family's footsteps. "I brought a big crowd," he said. "Everyone was happy with the result and they seemed shocked at how good I was.

"A lot of people hadn't seen me since the amateurs. I enjoyed the experience, it was a great venue, it was loud, I was on second of 10 fights, so I stayed until the end to watch them all.

"It was good to get my debut out of the way and show everybody what I can do. There was a little feeling of relief, like a weight had been lifted when I had my hand raised. I felt the pressure leading up to the fight because I knew all that hard work was going towards that one fight.

"I know how the game goes now so I'll just keep working my way up the ladder."