Boxing: Harrison triumph rings hollow

Scott Harrison punched his way into the history books tonight after a farcical first-round stoppage of Samuel Kebede at the Braehead Arena.

The Glaswegian retained his World Boxing Organisation featherweight title - and beat Jim Watt's record of five world title victories - in front of his local crowd, albeit disappointingly.

Kedebe, a Sweden-based Ethiopian, promised a tough fight with a professional record of 24 wins in 24 fights. A Bob Marley anthem marked his entrance into the ring - a chorus of abuse accompanied his departure.

"We picked the highest available contender," said Harrison's promoter, Frank Maloney, of the man ranked No 5 by the World Boxing Organisation. But Kedebe had not met anyone in Harrison's class. "I don't think any featherweight could take the power of Scott Harrison," Maloney countered.

Kebede never looked like he fancied it from the first minute and he was down after just 12 seconds following a good right from Harrison - but the challenger survived a count of eight.

The African looked unsteady on his feet and there was little surprise when he went down again after 57 seconds before the referee stepped in.

"It's better to win in the first minute of the first round than in the 12th round," Harrison said. "If anyone says it was too quick, that means nothing to me."

Harrison's sparring partner Willie Limond earlier made hard work of his super-featherweight contest with gutsy Frenchman Frederic Bonifai.

The promising Glaswegian, beaten with an eighth-round knock-out by Alex Arthur for the British title in 2003, had his opponent down in the first but Bonifai prove a hardy little fighter and was beaten on points.

Another Scot looking to revive his career, Lawrence Murphy, was given an even bigger fright in his six rounds with Nottingham's Michael Monaghan.

The former WBU world middleweight champion won a full-bloodied battle by a controversial single point.