Jack Arnfield defeated in British title fight against Tommy Langford

Arnfield, the mandatory challenger for Langford’s Lonsdale belt, was defeated via unanimous decision after the fight went 12 rounds.

The 28-year-old, who has now won 25 out of his 28 fights, had plenty of joy behind his jab but Langford was always the busier of the two fighters.

The bout started at a steady pace, with both fighters taking time to acclimatise to one another although title holder Langford was probably the busier in the opening round.

Arnfield had some joy with some crisp early jabs but Langford continued to land cleanly on the Blackpool fighter.

Langford landed some heavy body shots in round three and produced a flurry of impressive combination punches, but Arnfield rode them well and remained competitive.

Arnfield upped the tempo in the fourth round and began to land some heavier shots as he unleashed the shackles a little. But Langford ended the round strongly, rocking Arnfield with a couple of heavy shots as he saw some joy working on the inside.

Arnfield started the fifth round well, hurting Langford with a flurry of shots after following up on his strong jabs. His good work continued as he switched up his style with more focus on working inside following advice from his training team.

But he was punished at the start of the seventh round after throwing a couple of lazy jabs which were immediately pounced upon by Langford.

He responded well with some combination punches that kept the pressure on the Birmingham-based fighter, but Langford still stole the round through pure volume of punches.

Arnfield was rocked by an uppercut at the start of the eighth round but he responded well once again, catching Langford with a couple of left hooks.

There was nothing to separate the two fighters in rounds nine and ten, although Arnfield probably just about edged them.

Heading into the final two rounds, the ITV scorecard had Langford three rounds ahead meaning Arnfield would require a knockdown.

But the champion remained the busier fighter and Arnfield didn’t do enough to snatch the victory.

The final round saw Arnfield let his hands go in his search for that heavy blow, but a tired Langford kept him at bay to reach the final bell.

It meant the fight went to the judges scorecards, with the three at ringside scoring it 116-113, 116-113; 117-113.

The bout took place at Manchester Arena on the undercard of the World Boxing Super Series semi-final between George Groves and Chris Eubank Jr.