CRAIG Woodruff’s victory over previously unbeaten Connor Marsden perfectly demonstrated the Newport lightweight’s powers of recovery after his loss to Kieran Gething, says trainer Luke Pearce.

Woodruff stunned Londoner Marsden’s fans with a third-round stoppage of their man at York Hall, and it was a two-shot combination the Welshman had worked on in training that got the job done.

Marsden had already taken two counts before Woodruff landed the left hook that led to referee Lee Cook ending the contest prematurely.

The 27-year-old former Welsh champion is now looking at fighting again in January or February, before a possible British title eliminator later next year.

After seeing Woodruff improve his record to 9-5, Pearce said: “Craig moved up to super-light for the Welsh title fight with Kieran because he wasn’t getting any fights at lightweight.

“He lost a controversial points decision and we had to take it on the chin and go back to the drawing board.

“We are very self-analytical of our training so we had to look at how we could improve. Craig went into the fight with Connor Marsden with great self-confidence because of what we had been doing in training.

“He showed that under adversity he is able to come back from a disappointment, and we were massively happy with his performance on the night. He executed the game plan.

“The stoppage came from one of the shots we’d been working on in the gym, a right hand-left hook, and it took him out in the third round.”

Looking ahead, Pearce, who is assisted by Johan Berendjy, added: “Craig is now in the top 10 lightweights in the country, and we’d love him to fight for a Lonsdale Belt at lightweight or super-featherweight.

“We’re hoping to go on the road again with Mick Hennessy and Mo Prior, and maybe look for an eliminator for the British title – winning that belt is the dream.”

Pearce also paid tribute to Berendjy for his role in Woodruff’s training, and manager Richie Garber for making the fight with former amateur star Marsden.

Woodruff’s victory in Bethnal Green was greeted with a rendition of Delilah by Tom Jones.