Boxing: Sunderland & Peterlee's Warren Baister in first round KO, wins for Macleod, Foot, Essomba

The Sunderland cruiserweight thumped KO specialist Eriks Kalasnikovs to defeat in just one minute, 54 seconds at the Rainton Meadows Artena.

It was the former Commonwealth Games gold medallist’s quickest win, beating his debut success against Attila Gyen, in Liverpool, by 45 seconds.

Kalasnikovs looked raw but also seemed a dangerman in this four-rounder given all seven of the Latvian’s wins had come inside the distance.

But the danger came from Baister whose clinical combination shots took Kalasnikovs apart, flooring his opponent twice.

And when the Eastern European fighter went down for the second occasion, the bout was called off.

Baister, trained in Peterlee by David Binns, surely now faces a rapid route through the pro ranks.

Promoter Phil Jeffries paraded Wearside star after Wearside star on the undercard of Tommy Ward’s British super-bantamweight title eliminator victory against Robbie Turley.

Glenn Foot looked destined for a first-round stoppage too when he put down Lukasz Janik.

But the Pole proved a resilient opponent by getting up and seeing it through to the final bell.

Foot possibly could have stopped the 30-year-old but, instead, boxed superbly and did not get too carried away.

The 40-35 four-round is likely to have done him more good than a first round KO.

Isaac Macleod seemed to be on course for an equally-emphatic success over Michal Vosyka.

But there was almost a sting in the tail in the fourth rounder when Macleod and Vosyka landed shots simultaneously.

It was the decorated former Sunderland amateur who went down though the 21-year-old did get back up and came back well.

He won 39-37 for his sixth straight pro triumph.

The fourth Wearside victory came from the gloves of Thomas Essomba who made it seven straight wins since making Sunderland his home city.

Essomba, boxing for the first time since winning the Commonwealth flyweight title last November, saw off Sergey Tasimov over six one-seded rounds.

The 28-year-old Sean Casey-trained boxer was quick and aggressive against the Russian journeyman, winning all six rounds for a 60-54 result.