He went down to a dismal fourth round stoppage at the hands of Walsall's Martin Gethin.

Having blown his chances of claiming the English lightweight title by failing to make the stipulated weight at Thursday's weigh-in Fewkes, whose camp recently turned down the chance for him to become Amir Khan's latest opponent, was forced to go through with his bout anyway.

He was armed with the knowledge that only the Black Country boxer, unbeaten in 15 going into the contest, could claim the vacant belt should he emerge victorious.

Gethin, who last time out had halted Ingle stabled Nadeem Siddique, is on the short-list for the title of young boxer of the year, awarded by the British Boxing Writers Club.

Even the staunchest Gethin supporter though is unlikely to have expected their man to claim the vacant title with such ease as Fewkes, looking pale and gaunt from the outset, faded rapidly, his ultimately losing battle to shed those few extra pounds leaving him completely flat and with nothing in the tank.

Fewkes had taken the opening two rounds thanks to some good upper body movement but when Gethin began to up the pace towards the end of the third he was met with little resistance.

It came as no surprise when, following a series of solid body shots, referee John Keane called a halt with 30 seconds of the fourth round still remaining.

World light-welterweight champion Ricky Hatton told Fewkes afterwards that how he comes back from this set-back will prove whether John has the strength of character to make it to the top.

It emerged that Fewkes, as well as working with a different dietician recently, had been unwell in the lead up to the fight.

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