After getting himself back to winning ways with a straightforward victory over Elvis Dube at Brentwood last Saturday, Barrow fighter Liam Conroy already has his next challenge lined up.

Conroy defeated Dube for the second time in his career inside two rounds, via technical knockout, in Essex after knocking his 40-year-old opponent down three times in quick succession.

It meant that the 26-year-old quickly put his defeat against Joshua Buatsi for the British light-heavyweight title in March behind him.

Conroy is determined to make up for lost time, after injuries prevented him from getting in the ring for almost a year prior to his bout against Buatsi.

He’s clearly a man in a hurry, as he has another title fight already confirmed for next month, with him facing former sparring partner Steven Ward for the WBO European light-heavyweight belt in Belfast’s Ulster Hall on Friday, June 21.

Conroy said: “It’s another quick turnaround, so I’ll be staying in the gym, staying on top of it and making the most of it because I was out for 12 months and I just want to be busy this year and get back towards that British title.

“I want to be boxing often. Even after the Buatsi fight, even though I get stopped, I loved every moment of it in there.

“The atmosphere and everything, I was proper buzzed off it, so I thought I’d give it as much as I can and the bigger the fight, the better the feeling will be for me.”

Ulsterman Ward will certainly pose a far bigger test than Dube, who was quickly outmatched by Conroy, in what was one of the earlier fights on the card at the Brentwood Centre.

Conroy eased through the first round, which passed with little incident, but it didn’t take him long to move through the gears.

He first knocked his opponent from Derby down 48 seconds with a stiff right jab before a series of body shots quickly left Dube on one knee, with him only just beating the count.

Knowing he was on the brink of swiftly finishing things off, Conroy did so when another flurry of shots to the ribs followed by a right hook, sent Dube down for the third time, leaving the referee no choice but to stop the fight with one minute 29 seconds of the second round remaining.

Conroy, who had beaten Dube on points when he previous faced him in 2015, surprised himself in winning via stoppage.

He said: “I was on really early and it was quite quiet in there, which was a bit different from my last few fights, but it was the first stoppage of the night and I was quite surprised because Elvis doesn’t get stopped very often.

“He doesn’t win very often, but it’s not often someone gets him out of there. He’s a big lad who usually boxes at cruiserweight, so I was quite surprised myself when I stopped him.

"The first time i boxed him, I didn't operate at the level that I am at now, so this time I was totally different and I felt relaxed."