Matty Rennie continued his unbeaten career on Friday night, as he won a points victory over James Moorcroft at Bolton’s Toughsheet Stadium.

The Manxman won the eight-round contest 77-75 on the judge’s score, sparking cheers in Bolton and the island, where the fight was shown in local pubs.

With Moorcroft taking the first round, Rennie controlled much of the bout, scoring a 5-3 win on the scorecard, although one of them could easily have gone in his favour too.

He said: ‘They gave it as five rounds to three, which is probably right, I don’t know. Me and my team thought it was six to two, a lot of people who weren’t actually supporting me, including one who was essentially there as a neutral, thought it was six to two, but we got the win and that’s what counts.

‘But I did feel, I kind of knew at the end, that I had won the fight and our whole team felt like we’d won the fight.’

While the contest was scheduled to be a 10-round bout, a jump from his previous six-round bouts, it was cut to eight, with Rennie saying he felt ready for the step up and was happy with how his preparation had gone.

He said: ‘If you’re not ready for a 10-rounder, then you’re definitely not going to be ready for eight rounds, so we had no problems with the rounds. I was ready to take the jump from six to 10 but obviously with the late change, it went to an eight, which probably played into my hands a bit.’

Throughout the fight, Rennie’s name was the one sung loudest, with him saying that while he only focuses on what his coach is saying to him, in moments where he ‘felt the tempo of the fight and the heart rate was going up, I could hear the chanting and everyone was singing my name. It just spurred me on’.

Rennie was also very grateful for the support he’s received from home.

He said: ‘A lot of people are now getting behind me and I hope I’m doing the island proud and leading the way if you like, not just for boxing, but sport in general.

‘When I’m back in the Isle of Man and kids see me who may be boxing, but they might be swimming or cycling, or anything else and that makes them think that I want to push on in my sport and I want to breakthrough like this.

‘I am nowhere near the end product yet but I have an idea where I want to be, if I keep going the way I am and I just keep improving and working at it. I’m not the finished article, a lot of goals to achieve and if I keep doing what I’m doing, I believe I’ll get to where I want to be in the sport.’

l Part two of our interview with Matty will appear in this week’s Manx Independent, when he will discuss his next steps, Manx boxing, title ambitions and the potential for a pro bout in the island.