SUNDERLAND fighter Tony Jeffries enjoyed a spectacular homecoming this evening as he won his second fight as a professional in front of a partisan 1,500-strong crowd at Crowtree Leisure Centre.

Jeffries, who won an Olympic bronze medal during a successful amateur career, outclassed German Roy Meissner to maintain his unbeaten record in the paid light heavyweight ranks.

The 24-year-old stopped his journeyman opponent after almost a minute-and-a-half of the second round, marginally longer than it took him to dispose of Belarussian Aliaksandr Vayavoda in his professional debut two-and-a-half months ago, “It was unbelievable, the best night of my life,” said Jeffries. “It wasn’t perfect, but I’m really happy with the fight. I can’t wait to fight in Sunderland again – it was great.”

Jeffries’ superior ability was evident from the very first bell, with Meissner unable to deal with the power of the North-Easterner’s jabs.

The German was reeling in the ropes within the opening 30 seconds of the fight, and crashed to the canvas twice before the bell at the end of the first round.

On the first occasion, a powerful right over the top sent him sprawling and, less than half-a-minute later, Jeffries scored another knockdown with a powerful right hook.

At that stage, it looked unlikely that the fight would last any longer than Jeffries’ first professional outing but, to Meissner’s credit, he survived to the bell.

The second round proved every bit as one-sided as the first, however, and after one minute and 27 seconds, the referee stepped in to end.

Earlier in the evening, Manchester’s Jamie Moore made an emphatic defence of his European light middleweight title against little-known Ukrainian Roman Dzuman.

Moore, who is hoping to secure a world title fight within the next 12 months, landed a succession of telling hooks before the referee stepped in midway through the second round.

Rendall Munroe was equally successful, if a little less explosive, as he saw off Ghanaian Isaac Nettey to claim the vacant Commonwealth super bantamweight title.

Munroe, who topped the bill when Jeffries made his professional debut in Barnsley in February, secured a unanimous points verdict after dominating the fight from first round to last.

Londoner Danny Williams was considerably less dominant, but he still retained his British heavyweight title against John McDermott courtesy of a split decision.

Williams, who enjoyed his finest hour when he beat Mike Tyson in 2004, enjoyed much the better of the opening five rounds, and while McDermott rallied in the latter stages, two of the three ringside judges ruled in the champion’s favour.