TYRONE NURSE was victorious on the big Kell Brook bill in Sheffield.

The Huddersfield 22-year-old took his eight-round light-middleweight clash with the Barcelona-based Nicaraguan Santos Medrano on a points decision.

Referee John Latham had it 80-72 in favour of Nurse, whose hopes of a title fight at the Motorpoint Arena had previously been dashed when an opponent couldn’t be found.

The Chris Aston-trained star (their gym is at Linthwaite) has now won his last four bouts since going down to Adil Anwar in the Prizefighter final.

Stablemate Scott Gladwin from Halifax, meanwhile, suffered the second professional defeat of his career at the hands of impressive Kal Yafai.

The six-round bantamweight contest was also on the undercard on Saturday, but Gladwin was stopped in the second round.

Brave Gladwin was put down three times in the first round and, when he took a heavy body shot after a minute of the second to slump to his knees, referee Latham stopped the contest, with Yafai retaining his unbeaten record at 4-0 and being tipped for a British title shot next.

Gladwin, who was stepping up in class against the former Olympic medalist, now has a pro record of 7-2.

At the top of the bill Brook clinically dispatched Hector Saldivia to book a shot at a world title, but conceded he may put his dream on ice in order to pursue a fight with Amir Khan.

The self-styled ‘Special One’ needed just two rounds and 28 seconds to beat the man known as ‘El Tigre’ in their IBF welterweight final eliminator at the Motorpoint Arena, sending him back to Argentina with a right uppercut and vicious left jab.

A crack at the belt he has craved since he was a nine-year-old now awaits in the spring against Devon Alexander, but the name of domestic rival Khan hung over his post-bout press conference.

While Brook and promoter Eddie Hearn were keen to stress they had ticked the box they wanted by setting themselves up as mandatory challengers for the IBF belt, the comments of both suggested Khan is their number one target.

The pair traded verbal blows on Sky Sports’ ’Ringside’ programme two weeks ago and Khan, looking to rebuild his career after splitting with Freddie Roach, will move up to welterweight to make the fight.

When asked which avenue he would rather explore, Brook said: “Khan ... I want to do Khan, but it’s been my dream since I started boxing to be a world champion and bring it back to Sheffield. It’s a close one, we want to get the world title fight but I do want to take Khan out.

“Khan is going to get schooled, there is no question. He will be taken out really quickly. He gives it the chat for a long time, but when we get in I will be on him, relentless, and take him out.”

According to Hearn, who said he has already received an offer from Sheffield United to host the fight at their Bramall Lane ground, Khan cannot afford to turn down his man.

The Matchroom boss views Brook, who is now 29-0 in his career, Khan and the returning Ricky Hatton as the main draws in the division and if a world title fight cannot be arranged, will look to tee-up a meeting with one of them.

“We will then try and put the pressure on,” said Hearn.

“Generally, the fight has to happen in six months. With Kell, I don’t like keeping him out of the ring for months.

“He’s had six fights in 15 months and for me, he’s going away, I want him to have a nice holiday and then fight in February or March.

“If that’s impossible or the IBF ask for an extension, then we look at other options such as Khan or Hatton which, to be honest, are the only two fights which would stand in the way of us fighting for a world title. They’re the only two which would perhaps take precedence because they’re too big to ignore.”