JON-LEWIS Dickinson will fight for the British cruiserweight title before the end of the year after claiming the Northern Area crown at the Stadium of Light yesterday.

Birtley ABC's Dickinson outpointed Sunderland's David Dolan 97-94 as two of the North-East's most popular fighters went head-to-head for the first time in their career.

The strength of Dickinson's jab eventually told, with the Durham-born fighter also landing a succession of powerful uppercuts in the latter stages of the ten-round contest. The 25-year-old will now challenge Rob Norton for the British cruiserweight crown, with his promoter, Frank Maloney, hoping to confirm the date and venue of the fight shortly.

"Rob Norton - I'm coming for you now," said Dickinson, who had been out of the ring for nine months prior to yesterday's fight after fracturing his jaw in a defeat to Richard Turba last September. "That was the first step, but the next is to fight for the British title.

"I always said I had to get rid of David first, and I've done that now. I've come back from two defeats and a broken jaw, and I've proved what I'm about.

"I want to go on from here and, if I'm honest, I don't think Rob Norton will cause me any problems. Ten minutes or so before the fight, Frank said to me, ‘Win this, and I'll be straight on the phone to make the Norton fight'. I can't wait."

While Dickinson claimed the cruiserweight Prizefighter crown in April 2010, yesterday's bout was the first time he had fought over ten rounds in his career.

Having opened up a considerable advantage in the middle rounds of the contest, he continued to land the more telling blows in the final two rounds, and is confident his stamina will stretch to a British title fight.

"I'd never been past four rounds before," he said. "So it was a bit of an unknown. You can do all the training you want, but until you do it in the ring, you're never 100 per cent sure how it's going to turn out.

"It went well though. I didn't feel like I tired too much and I still felt able to do some decent work towards the end. I certainly wouldn't be worried about lasting out against Norton."

Yesterday's defeat was a major blow to Dolan, who has never really lived up to the potential that saw him claim a Commonwealth Games gold medal in 2002.

The 31-year-old drew with Norton when he fought for the British title in January 2010, and suffered a controversial defeat to English champion Terry Dunstan last December.

He will spend the next few weeks contemplating whether to continue fighting, but admits he is fast running out of credible opponents.

"It's no use trying to kid anyone - this is a major setback," said Dolan. "I'm going to have some time off now and think about what's happening. I'll have to see if there are any more meaningful fights out there for me, but this is obviously a big blow.

"It was a tough fight, and I have to accept the verdict. The three other times I've drawn or lost, I feel like I've been robbed. I think a different referee might have scored this differently, but I can't really have any complaints.

"If Jon-Lewis does fight Rob Norton next, I hope he beats him. They're totally different boxers - Rob's game is all about spoiling, whereas Jon-Lewis is a much classier fighter - so it all depends on how their styles mix."

Yesterday's bout was the feature contest on the Summer Rumble bill, with the main support seeing Newcastle's Martin Ward move closer to a British title fight of his own courtesy of a points decision over Londoner Ian Napa.

Bantamweight Ward made the most of his reach advantage to land a succession of powerful body shots and finished a deserved 96-94 victor.

Earlier, Birtley's Craig Dixon caught the eye as he made his professional debut, recording a comprehensive points success over Birmingham's Jason Nesbitt.

The welterweight was technically proficient from the word go, dominating from the centre of the ring against a vastly more experienced opponent.

South Shields' David Lake secured a narrow points verdict over Mansfield's Rob Sharpe at lightweight, while Fishburn's Gary Fox won every round as he comfortably outscored Lancashire-based William Warburton in a six-round light-welterweight bout.

Hartlepool super bantamweight Peter Cope was much too good for Pavels Senkovs, dominating from the first bell to make it two wins out of two since turning professional.

On a good afternoon for North-East boxers, Easington welterweight Paul Archer was also successful, seeing off Stretford-based Damien Turner to extend his unbeaten record to three fights.

And Newcastle's Mark Clauzel was much too good for Lincoln's Rick Boulter, stopping his light middleweight opponent in the first round.