Eamonn Magee gave one of his finest performances to stop Jon Thaxton in six rounds and retain his Commonwealth light-welterweight title in the Manchester MEN Arena.

The Belfast man had floored the dangerous challenger in the third and a left hand unhinged Thaxton in the sixth.

Magee proceeded to punch the Norwich fighter around the ring before referee John Coyle compassionately stopped the contest.

The winner may now face Ricky Hatton in April - victor over Russian Mikhail Krivolapov on the same card.

Apart from a close first round and the fifth, which Thaxton won, Magee was always in control of this contest.

Dictating the pace of the fight with his jab and strong left hand, Magee built an early lead when he floored Thaxton in the third round with a big left hand.

He had the challenger in trouble for the rest of the round, although Thaxton stoically grinned at him at the bell.

Thaxton seemed to have cleared his head for the fourth, but he was having major trouble catching Magee with his vaunted power punches.

The challenger enjoyed notable success in the fifth, rocking Magee into the ropes and landing his left hand with greater regularity.

But Magee opened up again in the sixth and when Thaxton stopped throwing punches in return, referee Coyle was left with no option but to stop the contest.

The champion improves his record to 23 wins, two defeats with 18 knockouts, while the gallant loser drops to 21-7 (9Kos)