STUART HALL remains confident his best days are still to come after returning to action with a resounding points victory over Jose Aguilar.

Hall was part of a packed North-East programme at Newcastle’s Walker Dome on Friday night, with his six-round outing representing his first appearance in the ring since suffering a controversial defeat to Lee Haskins in the pair’s IBF World Bantamweight showdown nine months ago.

Haskins has subsequently lost his crown to Belfast’s Ryan Burnett, and Hall is hoping to set up a contest with the Northern Irishman within the next 12 months.

The Darlington fighter, who is only the second North-Easterner in history to claim a world title, showed no signs of ring rust as he made light work of Aguilar, with the judges awarding a unanimous 60-54 decision in his favour.

His trademark jab always carried too much power for his opponent, and with the fight having formed part of a NXTGEN show promoted by Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom operation, the 37-year-old is hoping bigger and better things lie ahead.

“If anyone can get me another shot at the world title, it’s Eddie Hearn,” said Hall, who won the IBF crown when he out-fought bruising South African Vusi Malinga in Leeds in December 2013. “That’s what’s keeping me going.

“I know what I’m still capable of, and I know people haven’t seen the best of me. The Haskins fight still hurts because everyone I speak to seems to agree I won the fight.

“I should have been the one winning that belt, and I’d love the chance to win it back from Burnett. This was just about taking another step towards that.”

Hearn promoted Hall’s contest with Haskins, and has hinted the former champion could get one more shot at the big time, perhaps as part of a potential blockbuster bill at Newcastle Arena this autumn.

“The depth of talent is there (in the North-East),” said the promoter. “A lot of these guys have to fight each other.

“(Warren) Baister against (Simon) Vallily is a good example of that, that’s a big fight. In Josh Kelly, you’ve got a fighter who is going to be topping many, many cards in Newcastle over time. Stuart Hall has to have, excuse my French, a ‘sh*t or bust’ fight next.

“I’d like to come back to Newcastle Arena in October with Vallily v Baister, Stuart Hall in that kind of fight, and Josh Kelly. We probably need one more to add real depth to the card as well.

“But we sold 2,000 tickets on Friday and a lot of the young kids were starting out, so it was very encouraging.”

Kelly was the star of the show, with the former Olympian underlining his abundant potential as he blew away Birtley’s Tom Whitfield within the opening 86 seconds of the pair’s welterweight contest.

The Wearsider wobbled Whitfield with an early jab, and sensing his opponent’s weakness, weighed in with ten unanswered left hooks before the referee sensibly stepped in to bring things to an end. “I didn’t expect him to sit on the ropes for that long,” said Kelly. “But I just kept up my left hook.”

Sedgefield’s Bradley Saunders was once rated as highly as Kelly, but the Beijing Olympian has suffered a series of frustrations since stepping into the paid ranks.

Serious injuries to both of his hands resulted in a sequence of operations, but his punching power remains intact and he also enjoyed a quick-fire win as he stopped Casey Blair via a first-round knockdown.

“It was unbelievable,” said Saunders. “If you look at his record, there’s not many people do that to him. I’ve got rid of a few demons. I’m back, and you will see the best of me now.”

Baister, another former Team GB member, extended his unbeaten professional record as he claimed a technical stoppage win over Imantas Davidaitis.

Davidaitis suffered a cut in the second round that prompted the doctor to step in and stop the fight, with Wearside cruiserweight Baister having unloaded a succession of punches that plunged his opponent into trouble.

Baister could take on Vallily next after the Teessider successfully held on to claim a 58-57 points victory over Blaise Mandouo.

Vallily dominated the early rounds of the fight, with his right hand proving an especially successful weapon, but Mendouo fought back and Vallily was forced to withstand a barrage of hooks in the final round.

County Durham’s Kyle Redfearn knocked out Slovakian Martin Orlusiak to triumph in his second pro outing, while Bedlington’s Darren Reay was a 40-36 points winner over Fonz Alexander.