Dingaan Thobela controlled the fight in Johannesburg

He scored well early on against the more cautious challenger but Thobel;a began to take the fight to his opponent in round four.

Catley was constantly drawn into a close-range fight he clearly did not want and the Englishman was twice warned, first for butting and then for use of the elbow, which saw him penalised a point.

With things clearly going the South African's way, Catley was desperate for a knockout and nearly landed it in the final round.

But Thobela withstood the vicious right hook and responded with a final flurry to claim Catley's world crown.