Jason Easton aiming for the top

Light welterweight boxer Jason Easton believes he has assembled a team around him that will take him to the very top of the sport.

Jason Easton lands a right hand on Nathan Hardy

The former Craigmilliar amateur secured his sixth win since signing professional terms with manager Billy Nelson last year.

The 24-year-old may have been the penultimate bout of MGM Scotland’s Collision Course bill at Meadowbank on Saturday night, but he was spurred on to a points victory over the durable Nathan Hardy by a raucous home support.

A cut to Easton’s left eye merely underlined the threat Englishman Hardy had posed over the six rounds.

“I sold 172 tickets so the support has been absolutely amazing from all the people around Edinburgh,” Easton said. “I really appreciate it as without them buying tickets then this wouldn’t be possible. The atmosphere and reception I got was unbelievable.

“That was definitely my toughest fight since I’ve been pro, he certainly came to win. I needed to watch what I was doing so there are a few things I still need to work on. I felt I was in control but there were a couple of times he caught me so I didn’t want to make any silly mistakes.

“I’ll hopefully be back out in June but whatever they’ve got lined up for me, I couldn’t ask for a better team around me. That’s the first time I’ve fought on an MGM show and I really enjoyed it.”

Super middleweight Brian Forsyth got the evening off to a fine start for the home men with a controlled performance against Yeovil’s Bryn Wain, the 29-year-old proving the far more successful with his shot selection which was reflected in an easy points win – his fourth victory since leaving the amateurs behind last year.

John Thain was also pitched against a very able opponent in William Warburton in their welterweight duel, but the 28-year-old Scot oozed class throughout his six-round triumph.

“It’s good to get back in the ring so quickly after March so I just want to keep it going,” Thain said. I’d love to be a champion and hopefully my next fight can be for something big. I’ve now got 15 wins under my belt.”

Stephen Tiffney jetted off to his Las Vegas wedding today unscathed as he proved too much for Joe Beeden in their featherweight clash. Tiffney, 27, landed an array of right hand shots which wobbled the Swindon man on more than one occasion and despite believing he was on for the stoppage, the Newtongrange fighter was more than happy with the points victory in the end.

“I felt I performed well,” Tiffney said. “He was awkward as I was hitting him with shots but he kept holding on. I thought I had him a few times. I’ve not got any black eyes so I can go and have a good week this week now that this one’s out of the way.”

Lewis Benson turned in another accomplished performance to beat tough journeyman Fonz Alexander on points – the Newark man having only been stopped three times in 33 defeats.

“The boy was tough and he really gave it a go but I coped well under the pressure,” Benson said. “It’s just what I needed at this stage of my career. I stuck to boxing so it was a good four rounds.”

Despite not being completely satisfied with his performance, lightweight Thomas Dickson picked up his fourth win in the pro ranks against Youssef Al Hamidi

Dickson said: “I think I could have done a lot more so I wasn’t happy with myself. I was getting frustrated in there but I suppose it’s another win. I had to change my game plan but he was nothing really.”

Lee Redpath and Tommy Philbin completed an unblemished night for the Capital fighters with wins over Matt Seawright and Curtis Gargano respectively while in the bill’s main fight, Motherwell’s Iain Butcher triumphed 97-94 over ten rounds against Thomas Essomba of Cameroon.