Billy Bird says he will never forget the night he won a title fight in his hometown, after lifting the International Challenge light-middleweight title.

Bird, originally from Sudbury, has lived in Braintree for the last three years and prevailed at the town’s leisure centre, after a gutsy points win over Hull-based southpaw, Evaldas Korsakas on Saturday.

Bird described the contest as the hardest of his career and was cut in the fifth round, having been caught by an earlier good shot in the fourth.

However, Bird forced Korsakas to twice take a standing count in the third, before flooring him again in the seventh.

Bird, who eventually won the contest by two points, said: “It’s something I will remember for the rest of my life.

“I wanted a bout in Braintree and I wanted a tough, tough opponents and that is what I got. But the fight was not just for myself but also all my fans that follow me and also my sponsors.”

Victory against Korsakas means Bird now holds an impressive 14-1 winning record, but the 23-year-old refused to speculate on what might be next for him.

“It’s put me in the mix for bigger fights, but I will leave that down to my team,” he added.

“I would not want to say who I want to fight next and I am not one for calling anyone out, but anyone who knows me knows I will fight anyone as I want to be a world champion.

“I respect anyone out of the ring but it’s a different story when I get in there.

“I will vacate the International Challenge belt, that was just a stepping stone for me and hopefully my next fight could be an English title eliminator.

“I don’t want to rush things though as I am only 23.”

The victory against Korsakas also gave Bird some big-fight experience.

“It was the hardest fight of my life, I had to dig in,” said Bird.

“I could have had him out of there in the third round, with a bit more experience, but I rushed things a bit.

“I tried to calm down after that and I took my foot off the gas too much and he caught me with a right hand which I felt, although it didn’t wobble me.

“I couldn’t afford to make any mistakes after that and having had him down in the seventh, I boxed clever in the eighth as I knew what his approach would be.”