Barrow’s Mike McGoldrick claimed the first stoppage of his professional boxing career as he defeated Latvian veteran Jevgenijs Andrejevs inside five rounds on Friday night.

McGoldrick had said in the build-up to the fight, his first over six rounds, that he was torn over whether he wanted the bout to go deep or to earn a knockout after winning his four previous contests on points.

In the end, it was the best of both worlds for the 34-year-old light heavyweight, who was in control throughout at the University of Bolton Stadium to extend his professional record to five wins from five bouts.

McGoldrick had the 38-year-old Andrejevs either backed into a corner or against the ropes on countless occasions and worked the body well in the early rounds with some stiff jabs to the ribs.

He could have even won the fight in the second round as he unloaded on Andrejevs with a flurry of left and rights with the bell coming to his opponent’s rescue.

Andrejevs was visibly tiring by the fourth and was starting to look woozy after McGoldrick caught him with a left uppercut while in his corner.

The fifth round meant uncharted territory for ‘Goldie’, but he wasn’t there for long as he rocked his opponent with a mean right hook.

Referee Jamie Kirkpatrick then stopped the fight at the midway point of the round after a left hook to the side of the head, as he deemed Andrejevs in no state to continue.