ONLY a boxer could complain about having to endure an easy night’s work.

Tyrone Nurse picked up the Central Area light-welterweight title without having to do anything much at all at the Doncaster Dome on Friday night.

Hometown opponent Joe Elfidh was withdrawn by his corner throwing the towel in with just half of the second round gone.

There was confusion ringside as to what had unfolded but Elfidh had earlier shook his arm when there was a break in action and he had no complaints when the white flag was slung in by his trainer.

Nurse, who turned 23 last month, had actually lost the first round and had not been doing a great deal of note in the second either and was almost apologetic and embarrassed afterwards.

He said: “He was pulling faces in the first round and I didn’t know why because he was winning.

“I expected him to come out the way he did. The plan was to get the jab going on him but it’s not always as easy as that.

“I didn’t have to break sweat. There wasn’t even any point having a shower! I landed a few cheeky shots and maybe that put him off.”

Schoolteacher Elfidh revealed that his shoulder popped out of its socket in round one and that it’s an injury that afflicted him before in November.

Elfidh’s early attacks were being soaked up by Nurse on the ropes and he believes that the fight was playing into his hands but would have liked the opportunity to have proven it.

“I was going to let him blow himself out then take over and do a job on him, but I’m gutted about the way it ended,” he conceded.

Nurse does not see much point in going through a re-match and his father and trainer Chris Aston is clear on who he wants next for his son.

“We’d like to fight Curtis Woodhouse next,” declared Aston. “We’ve offered him the fight before and they turned it down. We’re ready to take the fight any time.”

Nurse agrees and sees it as the next logical step. He added: “I want to win titles the traditional way. The Central Area is the first step followed by the English and British. Who doesn’t want to win that lovely British belt?”

Woodhouse’s manager Dave Coldwell was ringside as the fight was being streamed live on Coldwell Boxing TV and the Rotherham-based promoter confirmed that an English title shot for Nurse could materialise against the former Sheffield United and Birmingham City footballer.

Coldwell said: “Curtis has got a title defence in three weeks in Manchester (against unbeaten challenger Shayne Singleton) and if he gets through that then we can talk about him against Tyrone.”