Dillian Whyte survived a huge scare as he was handed a narrow win over Jermaine Franklin.
Whyte had his sights set on a rematch with bitter rival Anthony Joshua as he attempted to return to world title contention. But he struggled to get to grips with Franklin's speed in the early rounds and didn't appear to have rallied sufficiently in the latter stages.
But two of the three judges generously scored the fight in his favour (116-112) with the third scoring the fight a draw (115-115). Whyte insisted he had done enough to win but Franklin was left unhappy. "I felt like I got robbed, I felt like I did enough to get the decision," he said. "I felt like I won the earlier rounds. I just felt like I got robbed on the decision."
Whyte was fighting for the first time since his stoppage defeat by Tyson Fury in April as he looked to impress in front of the watching Joshua. But it was Franklin who looked sharper in the opening round as he repeatedly caught Whyte with his jab.
Whyte looked to impose himself physically in the second session but was still troubled by the American's lead hand - as well as speed which belied his 18-stone frame. Franklin had never previously been scheduled to go 12 rounds but continued to look at home through three rounds.
Whyte was beginning to walk down his unbeaten opponent as if unconcerned about the power in the opposite corner. The Brit, meanwhile, began to enjoy success with an uppercut-hook combination in round four. And he briefly pinned Franklin in the corner in the fifth only for Franklin to fight fire with fire.
And the visitor refused to wilt in the sixth round as he switched from head to body and back again to ensure it was all to play for at the halfway stage. Whyte again pinned Franklin to the ropes in the seventh but was jolted by a right hand in return.
If Whyte had hoped to come on stronger in the second half of the fight, he hadn't banked on Franklin continuing to take the fight to him as the American defied his pre-fight odds. The crowd began to grow restless in the ninth round as Whyte failed to increase his work rate - and Franklin punctuated the session with a big right hand against the ropes.
Whyte was in danger of requiring a stoppage by the 10th round but showed little sign of securing one. He briefly rallied himself and the crowd with a spell of sustained pressure but Franklin shrugged off the attack. He did the same when Whyte landed his best shot of the fight as his right hand finally found its target.
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Franklin still refused to show any signs he would wilt as the fight entered the championship rounds. And it was the American who took the fight to his rival at the start of the 12th and final session. Whyte answered with an uppercut and then an overhand right but Franklin took them well. Whyte rallied in the final minute as he sent Franklin back to the ropes but the American survived to hear the final bell.
On the undercard, Fabio Wardley won a three-round British heavyweight title shootout with Nathan Gorman. Gorman edged the opening session but was dropped twice in the second round. He was down again in the third before the towel came in from his corner.
Wardley said: "It's been a mental journey to throw myself into the scene and into boxing as a whole and to see where I ended up. So far so good, I'm doing alright, I feel like I could conquer the world. I come from that Dillian Whyte school of hard knocks; that's nothing new to me and I got to show everyone a sneak peak of what it's like when I want to go to war.
"Nathan is a good operator; he threw some good shots and caught me a few times but I'm used to taking big shots in sparring from some of the biggest and baddest boys in the ring so it's no problem to me. I just bite down and keep walking forwards."
