LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND – Andrew Cain successfully defended his British and Commonwealth bantamweight titles via a split-decision victory over Charlie Edwards.

Their contest, at the M&S BAnk Arena in Liverpool, England, was not enjoyed by the home crowd. Edwards seemed happy to move around the ring and made next to no effort to land anything of note, yet was nearly awarded the victory.

The judge Steve Gray strangely scored 115-113 in favour of Edwards. The other two scores read 115-114 and 116-112 to Cain.

Cain, 14-1 (12 KOs), started on the front foot, while Edwards, 20-2 (7 KOs), elected to circle the ring to wait for openings. They did not exchange much leather in the opening round, but a sharp right from Cain cut Edwards to the side of the head shortly before its conclusion.

Spurred on from the blood that was smeared across Edwards’ face, Cain pushed on looking to land more of his spiteful hooks in the second. Edwards, 32, was too quick, however, and was able to use his quick feet to evade danger. A sharp left from Edwards brought a cheer from his corner, and Cain nodded in respect.

Cain, 28, was struggling to tie down Edwards, who was still bouncing on his toes, landing quick counters before pivoting away from trouble. Cain finally broke through late in the third with a vicious right to the body and he followed it with a left to the head. Edwards took the shots well but was certainly wary of taking another.

Edwards was in a rhythm now, and Cain just couldn’t get hold of him. Edwards would slip and slide away from Cain, who was becoming increasingly frustrated. Edwards even had the time to taunt Cain after a wild right hand whistled past his abdomen and through the ropes.

In the fifth, Cain became so frustrated with Edwards, who refused to stand with him, that he began circling the ring in the opposite direction. Edwards smiled in return, and was in no rush to give Cain what he wanted. Edwards was evading Cain well, but he just wasn’t throwing enough to take the rounds.

Cain upped the tempo in the sixth and began to have more success. He landed a stiff left jab midway through the session and whipped in a body shot. Boos began to sound around the arena as Edwards, again, continued to circle the ring.

The boos continued in the seventh, with Edwards not only circling the ring, but rarely throwing anything back. Cain came in to land hard shots and would land glancing blows, but they were enough to take the rounds because Edwards wasn’t replying. Edwards seemed as though he was happy with how the fight was going.

He also seemed as though he was content to just see the fight out. There was no urgency from his corner, or from himself. The ninth followed a similar pattern; boos would ring, Cain would ask Edwards to stop running, and Edwards would continue to circle the ring.

Edwards’ head must have been spinning not from Cain’s punches, but from circling the ring over and over. He had, however, one of his better rounds in the tenth. He landed a sharp right hand that brought a wince from Cain; Stephen Smith in Edwards’ corner pleaded for more, but Edwards again returned to circling the ring.

In the 11th, Cain was having to deal with so little from Edwards that he was now chasing him with his hands behind his back. He landed a sharp left, which Edwards took well, but Edwards again had no reply.

The crowd sarcastically cheered as the 12th round was announced, and they were treated to more of the same. Edwards showed no signs of switching things up, beyond a right uppercut before going for one final run around the ring. Edwards climbed to the top rope at the sound of the bell, but he was met by a deafening noise of booing from the home crowd.

Cain then climbed to the top of his corner and a cheer rang around the arena. Both awaited the official verdict. Cain’s trainer, Paul Stevenson, smiled in disbelief when it was announced that it would be a split decision. The first card of 115-114 was announced in favour of Cain, then one of 115-113 to Edwards. A pin drop could be heard as the final score of 116-112 was read out, and it was greeted with an almighty roar when it was declared in favour of the local favorite.

Before then, Jadier Herrera, 17-0 (15 KOs) stopped the tough Jose Macias Enriquez, 21-4-2 (8 KOs) inside seven rounds. Enriquez gave a good account of himself but Herrera was just too much in the end; after swinging in a bunch of wild hooks to the head and body of Enriquez, the referee John Latham intervened. The time of the stoppage was 2.31.

Ionut Baluta won a narrow split-decision over local favorite Brad Strand. Their junior-featherweight contest was a hard one to score, because Baluta, 17-5-1 (3 KOs), outworked Strand, 12-2 (4 KOs), but the Scouser landed the more eye-catching shots.

A crucial moment came in the ninth, when Strand seemed to lose his balance and fall to the ground, but the referee Marcus McDonnell ruled it a knockdown after a jab landed from Baluta. The point and round dropped from the knockdown ultimately cost Strand the contest. The scorecards read 97-93 to Strand, and 98-91 and 96-94 to Baluta.

The middleweight Stephen Clarke, 6-0 (1 KO), picked up a wide points win over Dmitri Protkunas, 8-18-1 (1 KO). The referee Steve Gray scored the contest 60-54.

Leighton Birchall, 1-0 (1 KO), scored an impressive stoppage over Laszlo Bernath, 1-2 (1 KO), on his professional debut at junior featherweight. The southpaw relentlessly whipped in shots to the head and body of Bernath, with Latham waving the action off at 1.55 of the second round.

The welterweight Lucas Biswana, 2-0, recorded the second win of his career with a dominant performance against the tough Ezequiel Gregores, 3-21.

Earlier, the debutant William Birchall stopped Engel Gomez in a featherweight contest. Birchall, 1-0 (1 KO), dropped Gomez, 8-44-3 (4 KOs), early in the second and Latham jumped in seconds later to save him from further damage. The time of the stoppage was 48 seconds of round two.

The junior middleweight Lewis Lawton made a fine start to his professional career with a first-round finish of the usually durable Artjom Spatar. Lawton, 1-0 (1 KO), landed a sickening left hand to Spatar’s midsection that brought the Estonian to his knees. Spartar, 4-13-1 (1 KO), stood up in a hope of continuing but collapsed again seconds later in pain. The time of the stoppage was 75 seconds.

Joe Bourne, 0-0-1, was held to a draw on his professional debut, at heavyweight, by the tough Cristian Uwaka, 1-5-1 (1 KO). Latham scored the contest 38-38 even.