Boxing: Marshall grabs historic gold

Nose in front: Savannah Marshall had to survive a torrid third round in China (EPA)

Savannah Marshall can dominate her sport for years to come after being crowned Great Britain's first women's boxing world champion here in China.

Great Britain's performance director, Rob McCracken, praised her 17-15 win over middleweight Elena Vystropova of Azerbaijan, saying: "As long as she continues to work hard, Savannah can achieve anything she wants in the sport."

The victory came on her 21st birthday, and the Hartlepool fighter said: "It's been an amazing week, and to come away as world champion and with a place at the Olympics is pretty incredible. It's great to go one better than last time [she won silver in 2010]."

The win completed a highly successful tournament for the GB women's team, with Nicola Adams and Natasha Jonas also doing enough to book Olympic places at flyweight and lightweight respectively.

The big-punching Vystropova bloodied Marshall's nose in a torrid third round. But boxing behind a stiff jab, Marshall never gave up the two-point lead she had established at the halfway stage.

Adams missed out on gold when she lost 14-10 to China's world No 1 Ren Cancan. Bronzes for Jonas and Lancashire's Lisa Whiteside made it a total of four medals for Team GB, the latter coming in the featherweight category, which is not an Olympic weight.

Ireland's Katie Taylor won her fourth consecutive gold medal and underlined her status as Olympic favourite as she beat Sofia Ochigava of Russia 11-7 in Jonas's lightweight division.

David Price became the new British and Commonwealth heavyweight champion and the first Liverpudlian to win the titles with a four-round demolition of Norwich's Sam Sexton at Aintree racecourse last night.

The 28-year-old, an Olympic bronze medallist at Beijing, showed he has the punch and personality to give the battered division a much-needed makeover. In only his 13th fight Price recorded his 11th KO, flooring Sexton three times. The finishing blow, a right hook, sent him crashing to the floor, hitting his head on the canvas and causing the referee to stop the contest.