There was a reversal of fortune for two Sussex middleweights in Streatham on Sunday as Horsham's Mark Thornton tasted his first professional defeat.

On the last show at Caesar's Nightclub, in February, Thornton scored a first-round win while Michael Thomas, from Brighton, lost his pro debut via disqualification after flattening opponent Joel Ani after being ordered to break.

This time Thomas won in the first round, and picked up the trophy for the best performance of the night, while Thornton was floored and stopped, suffering his first defeat after three wins since turning professional.

Thomas was delighted both with the win, over Peckham's Dean Powell, and the trophy, a likeness of the late Johnny Owen, the Welsh bantamweight who died after being knocked out in a world title challenge in 1980.

"Thomas said: "It's great to get the win after what happened last time."

A fired-up Thomas picked his punches well, made sure his rival felt each one, and Powell suffered a cut above his left eyebrow. Referee Ian John-Lewis inspected the cut and allowed Powell to continue.

Another series of stinging Thomas shots knocked Powell back and the referee stopped the contest after 2min.8sec of the first round despite the Londoner's protests.

Thornton started well against Kreshnik Qato, an Albanian based in Wembley, but ultimately could not handle his opponent's strength.

The referee stopped the contest after 1min.32sec of the third round after Thornton was put down.

Thornton's trainer John Essex said: "Mark should have stuck to his boxing but he would go and have a fight.

"You can't fight a fighter."