DERBY light-heavyweight Ovill McKenzie couldn't quite match his record-breaking 15-second victory of three months ago but still overwhelmed Commonwealth title challenger Tony Dodson at Bowlers Arena in Manchester.

Liverpool's 31-year-old Dodson, a vastly-experienced operator, was a former British super-middleweight champion and was rated above McKenzie domestically.

But he was up against it from the opening bell and, having been hounded throughout, he was finally rescued by Paisley referee Victor Loughlin early in the third round.

Barely half a minute had elapsed before Dodson, having been clattered by a weighty left-right combination to the head, was forced to grab hold in a neutral corner to use up a few seconds.

The scenario was repeated later in the session too.

Dodson's plan appeared to be to stay as close as he could to deny McKenzie the room to operate early on, hoping he might tire as the rounds clicked by.

He stuck manfully to the task, holding so tight in a clinch late in the opening round that both tumbled to the canvas, almost wrestling style.

The Shinfield-trained puncher managed to connect with two early rights to the head and another to the body in the opening moments of the second before the well-supported Liverpudlian resumed his holding tactics.

Dodson did up his game as the bell approached, seemingly stung into action having been tagged by a heavy right cross.

That was to be as good as it got for the challenger, though, with McKenzie upping the tempo noticeably at the start of the third.

Dodson was forced on to the back foot under heavy fire. Two weighty rights followed seconds later by more of the same saw Dodson crumple.

From a kneeling position in centre ring, the frustrated Merseysider looked up at the official as he doled out his count and it seemed for a moment as if he might just remain on one knee.

Eventually, though, he decided to have one last try and hauled himself back to his feet as Mr Loughlin reached a count of nine.

Dodson's respite, however, proved short and with another early victory within his grasp, McKenzie launched into a sustained two-fisted barrage which unsurprisingly caused the man in the middle to step in and wave a halt to proceedings only 66 seconds into the third round.

The last man to halt the usually durable Dodson so early was Carl Froch when the pair clashed for the British and Commonwealth super-middleweight titles at Nottingham Arena back in November 2006.

To make it a memorable weekend for the Somercotes gym, Rendall Munroe had a first-round blowout of Argentina's Jose Saez in their super-bantamweight clash in Bolton on Saturday, knocking him down twice in the round.