On what was a big night of comebacks, Ross Cooksey made it a hat-trick of victories for boxers from the Furness area on Friday night, following earlier wins for Ryan Watson and Mike McGoldrick.

All three fought during MTK Global’s show at the University of Bolton Stadium, which was promoted by Johnney Roye, who is responsible for training each of them.

Barrovians Cooksey and McGoldrick both maintained their unbeaten professional records with comfortable points victories over Ricky Leach and Gianni Antoh, respectively.

The margin of victory for Ulverston’s Watson, who was in his first fight since November 2017, over Qasim Hussain wasn’t quite as clear-cut, but he also rarely looked in trouble.

Cooksey’s bout was his first since he signed up with MTK in February, meaning this was also the first time he’d stepped into the ring under Preston-based Roye’s stewardship.

‘The boss’ hadn’t boxed in 11 months, but there was no sign of ring-rust from the 26-year-old, who looked light on his feet throughout the four rounds, which meant Kent’s Leach barely laid a glove on him.

At the same time, Cooksey was able to repeatedly get through his opponents’ defences with some good jabs, while he also landed some stiff uppercuts.

The biggest shot came early in the final round when a good left hand rocked Leach and it was no surprise when it was revealed the referee had judged him to have won every round, giving him a 40-36 victory to extend his record to seven wins from seven.

McGoldrick has earlier made it four from four against Cambridge’s Antoh as he made his return from injury that had prevented him from boxing during the spring.

Antoh was mostly on the defence throughout, with ‘Goldie’ forcing him into the corner with a flurry of right hands early in the second round.

The 34-year-old continued to wear his opponent down, dominating at close quarters by getting combinations away, with a late right hand from Antoh not enough to prevent McGoldrick being given a 40-37 win.

In truth, Watson’s bout with Hussain was slight untidy, with his opponent from Sheffield repeatedly breaking up the flow of it by holding once he realised his own attacks were not landing.

Watson, who opened the contest with a strong right and a body shot, never let frustration get the better of him and remained on the front foot in being given the decision 39-37.