STUART HALL’S hopes of another World title shot were dashed as he suffered a unanimous points defeat to old rival Paul Butler in a WBA World Bantamweight eliminator at Liverpool’s Echo Arena.

Butler beat Hall in a World title contest in Newcastle in 2014, and if anything, the Liverpudlian was an even more emphatic winner as the pair locked horns again.

Two of the judges ruled 118-110 in Butler’s favour, with the other awarding Hall an additional round but still coming down on Butler’s side by a 117-111 margin.

The points decision means Butler is now guaranteed another World title fight, which is likely to see him line up against the winner of next month’s WBA showdown between Jamie McDonnell and Liborio Solis.

Hall will take some time to reflect on his next move, but as he approaches his 38th birthday at the start of next year, the Darlington fighter may well conclude it is time to hang up his gloves.

If he does decide to retire, he will leave the ring as one of the North-East’s greatest-ever fighters, and only the second boxer from the region to have claimed a World title.

His crowning moment came in Leeds in December 2013, when he lifted the IBF crown thanks to a warrior-like display that enabled him to win a bruising encounter with South African Vusi Malinga.

He retained his title after a draw with Martin Ward, but suffered World title defeats at the hands of Butler, Randy Caballero and Lee Haskins.

Saturday’s performance was characteristically brave, with Hall planting himself in the middle of the ring as he attempted to batter Butler into submission.

He landed a telling blow in the third round, briefly knocking his opponent out of his stride, but Butler’s superior agility and movement meant Hall was never really able to mount a sustained assault.

Butler didn’t land a host of powerful blows either, but his counter-punching style meant he was always the busier and more effective fighter.

With Butler circling the ring and constantly staying out of reach, Hall was unable to get inside his opponent, and while the North-Easterner never stopped trying to move forward, he was always behind on the scorecard.

Butler delivered a slick left hook as he briefly switched to a southpaw style halfway through the fight, and caught Hall with a powerful left uppercut in the tenth round as his patient approach paid dividends.

Hall gave it his all in the final two rounds, but his 28-year-old opponent continued to box cleverly and rarely looked at risk of being troubled.

“It was a very sweet victory,” said Butler. “Stuey Hall is a great competitor, we knew how tough he was. I knew I had to be smart and box him.

“I’ve improved massively since we last fought – I’m a lot more composed and I pretty much negated everything Hall wanted to do. I’m most definitely ready to fight for a World title – we want Jamie McDonnell next.”

On a bad night for North-East fighters, Martin Ward was knocked down three times in the opening two rounds as he lost his European Super-Bantamweight bout with Abigail Medina at Hartlepool’s Borough Hall.

Ward held his own for the majority of the first round, but Medina delivered a crushing right to the head right on the bell, sending the West Rainton fighter falling to the floor.

Medina kept up his attack at the start of the second, with another right leaving Ward on the floor for a second time. To his credit, Ward got back up again, but Medina sensed the end was near and finished things as he pinned his opponent to the ropes before sending him sprawling.

“When Martin got caught, he was hurt,” said Ward’s trainer, Neil Fannan. “If it had been the tenth round, I’d have probably chucked in the towel. The referee gave him every chance, it’s a title fight, but when he got up, I knew it was going to be hard.

“At one point it looked as though he’d regained a bit in his legs and might fiddle his way through and fight him off, but the lad was in for the kill and the writing was on the wall.”