THORNBURY boxer Umit Sucu has made history by being the first man to claim a newly introduced English championship belt.

The 38-year-old fighter, nicknamed “The Turkish Warrior”, opened and closed the bout for the WFA English Super Heavyweight title at the “Best of the Best 3” event in Knowle with a flurry of hits, flooring rival Mark Smith within seconds of the start of the opening round.

Sucu opened his attack with a searing five punch combination, ending with a right hook that broke his opponent’s nose, forcing him not only to the corner, but also out of the bout.

“It is an amazing feeling to have become an English champion,” said Sucu after the fight.

“But now everyone will want to fight me. My first defence will probably come very soon.”

The current South West Heavyweight and Super Heavyweight champion, Sucu admitted he was nervous, weighing in at 106kg, a full 36kg lighter than Smith, but said that careful planning helped him prevail.

“I was nervous of course, I was fighting a 22-stone man. But at the same time, I felt confident, I trained hard for this - Three hours a day, six days a week for months to prepare myself for this fight, and I am happy I went out there and did exactly what I needed to do.

“Normally you would go in cautiously with some careful jabs to test out your opponent, but instead I opened hard.

“I threw in some heavy hits and followed an early uppercut with a right hook – and it just happened to break his nose.

“I was lucky to catch him the way I did. The plan was always to go in hard and hurt him quickly, before he had the chance to deal any damage to me, but I didn’t expect to finish it so quickly.

“My biggest fear was getting injured, I would definitely feel the hit from a fighter that size. If he caught me I was going down.

“I am not sure what the plan will be next, I just want to try and enjoy this moment.”

But the belt itself, was not the only success of the night for Sucu. Through the fight, he was able to raise £900 in aide of 8-year-old Bristol boy Kye Vincent who recently lost his hand and both legs to meningitis.

The boxer invited Bristol musician and charity fundraiser Darren Sims to perform during an interval, during which a collection was made.

Sucu said: “I am so happy we were able to raise some money for Kye, I am looking forward to meeting him and giving him the money soon.

“I am a firm believer in the fact that while we can’t help everyone, everyone can help someone.”