In front of the biggest ever crowd at a Victory Promotions event, Welch locked horns with former two-time British champion Barkhouse who is currently ranked No.3 in the UK middleweight division and was a gold medallist at the WBC Muay Thai Amateur World Festival last year.

Welch said: “I came back down to my old weight class of 72.5kg (Middleweight) against a seasoned veteran who had won 41 of 57 fights.

“This was another big test which I passed with a Knockout win in the third round via a left elbow.

“My next fight is in Dijon, France for a Wako European title in the 71.8kg division.”