Fighting in his home town for the first time in over a year, Matthew Wilton had a hard-fought win on the ‘All on the Line’ show at the Waterfront Hall against Mohamed Larabi of France.

‘Speedy’ started fast in an opening round and got the better of what became a battle of the jabs.

Wilton refused to be goaded into a fight with panto villain Larabi in the second, and used his boxing pedigree to hit and not be hit against the game Frenchman.

25 year old Wilton shipped a few shots in the third round as the fight became scrappy, with Larabi reprimanded for hitting on the break, and Wilton becoming more aggressive in response.

The Belfast man charged out in the fourth and hurt Larabi with an accumulation of shots midway through the round, but the tough Gaul managed to hold on.

A quiet and close fifth saw Wilton box throughout, as he coasted towards a points win.

A potential knockout however was on the cards at the start of the final round with Larabi badly hurt, but the crafty Frenchman used every trick in the book to last to the final bell.

The final scorecard saw Wilton triumph 59-56.

With the win, Wilton improves his flawless record to 13(3)-0, while Larabi, who was yet another tough opponent on the Cyclone bill, drops to 4(2)-7(0).