Ashley Sexton

Sexton made his professional debut in Watford, England on 1 August 2008, defeating David Keogan in a 4 round contest. He fought twice more in that debut year winning on both occasions and compiling a record of 3-0. Sexton fought a further 5 times in 2009 and developed his record with wins over Robert Nelson (in 6 rounds) and Darli Goncalves Pires (first round stoppage).^[2] In his first fight of 2010, Sexton fought former British title challenger Usman Ahmed for the English flyweight title; forgoing fancy footwork, Sexton finished the fight on 22 January with a first round knockout and won the English title.^[3][4]

Following the Ahmed win, Sexton challenged reigning British flyweight champion Shinny Bayaar. Bayaar had won the title from Edwards. The fight on 14 May 2010 was a step up for Sexton as Bayaar was the more experienced boxer with a record of 15-4-1. After losing many of the initial rounds, Sexton began to dominate later on as Shinny Bayaar struggled with a cut injury. The fight, at the Goresbrook Leisure Centre in Dagenham, was scored a draw, although a number of observers felt that Bayaar might have done enough to win.^[5][6] On 2 April 2011 Sexton returned to winning ways with a trip to Germany resulting in a victory against Salim Salimov and then on 30 April 2011 Sexton beat Mike Robinson at the Olympia in London over 8 rounds.^[2] Sexton again traveled to Germany on 2 July 2011 to fight Mike Robinson in a rematch, with the fight on the undercard to David Haye's challenge to Wladimir Klitschko for the world heavyweight title. The fight was close and this time the judges scored the contest a draw with Robinson, who said that he would like to fight Sexton again but this time for the English title.^[7]