SUNDERLAND’S Tony Jeffries admitted that the pressure of representing his hometown has begun to take its toll.

The light-heavyweight extended his unbeaten professional career to four fights with a solid points victory over Artem Solomko of Belarus at the Seaburn Centre on Friday.

It was the first time Jeffries had come through a sixround contest and the Olympic bronze medallist tired visibly after a strong opening. But it is the demands of the Sunderland public that is proving to be more of a challenge for the boxer dubbed ‘the Mighty Mackem.’ “The pressure was bigger before this fight than any of my previous ones,” said Jeffries.

“I was really starting to feel it. The last week it was in the back of my mind would I be fit enough to step up to six rounds?

“Then there was the pressure of boxing in Sunderland again, some people expecting me to stop him, other people not wanting me to. I heard people shout, ‘Come on, you’re doing the city proud.’ “I’m lucky to be representing my city – it’s not like London where they’ve got a few boxers!”

While victory for the 24- year-old never looked in doubt, he admitted that he had struggled to land the knockout blow the 1,200 crowd had come to see.

“It was scrappy, really scrappy. I couldn’t get my shots off which is why I didn’t stop him,” he said.

“The opponents are going to step up in class but that’s what I need if I’m going to do anything. I can’t keep stopping them all. Our heads clashed but luckily it was him who got the cut, not me.

When I saw that I thought, ‘I might be able to get him’ but it was scrappy.”

Meanwhile, Hartlepool’s Michael Hunter is considering his options following Friday’s defeat to Jason Booth that ended his challenge for the British super-bantamweight title.

After retiring on his stool after five rounds Hunter’s dream of regaining his old belt was over and led to predictions that he may call a halt to a professional career that’s yielded British, Commonwealth and European glory.

The southpaw started the fight impressively before Booth’s quality began to tell and Hunter ran out of steam.

Discussions on the 31-yearold’s future are scheduled to take place this week.