Castleford champion Anthony Holmes vows to hit back after losing unbeaten record in loss to Danny Christie

Holmes was looking to add the BKFC British light-heavyweight title (185lb) to his 205lb championship belt when he topped the bill on a bareknuckle fight card at Planet Ice in Leeds, but was stopped in the fourth round by a tough opponent from Carlisle.

After looking good in the early stages of the fight Holmes was knocked down twice in the fourth round and unable to continue.

Defeat meant he will now miss out on a world title shot with the unbeaten BKFC man Christie now going on to fight American Lorenzo Hunt.

But the Castleford man, roared on by the West Yorkshire crowd, made the better start and used his quicker speed to edge the opening round, proving hard to hit.

In the second round Holmes got through with some of his bigger punches, including a big uppercut just before the bell, and Christie suffered a cut above his left eye.

Round three saw Christie look to be more aggressive, but Holmes responded with some huge shots and continued to use his feet well.

He had to be ahead going into the fourth round, but his opponent threw caution to the wind after suffering a second cut over his other eye and landed a big right hand that floored the Cas fighter.

He got up, but was not fully recovered and went down again after taking another right hand, being unable to climb off the canvas this time as he was counted out.

Reflecting on his defeat, Holmes said: “I fatigued a lot going into that fourth round.

"There was a moment in the back end of the third round when we had a clash of heads and I saw a flash of light that knocked my senses a little bit. But I can’t knock Danny Christie – he won.

"I saw every punch until that moment and I thought I was in control and then I started to fatigue and when you fatigue you don’t make the right decisions.

"I stood over to his right and my game plan was not to exchange right hands because I know that’s his main weapon and as soon as I switched off a bit that’s it. I went to exchange rights and he beat me to the punch.

"It’s a game of inches, one wrong move, especially in bareknuckle and it can be game over.”

Holmes is determined to get back in the ring and make amends.

He added: “It’s a big dent in my pride, but I can’t let this moment, one loss, define me. It has driven me more – America is still on the table, BKFC have been in touch.

"Obviously I want a re-match and I’ve been in talks for quite a while about dropping weights, but I keep getting offered fights and thinking it’s a good name, let’s go.

"What I have to do now is get myself together then change. I know where I went wrong, where my camp went wrong and I wasn’t confident in my fitness even though I had some good spas. I’ve got to learn from it.”