A LEDBURY boxer is rising through the professional super lightweight rankings after securing his fourth victory with a first round stoppage.

Alex 'Pinky' Florence, aged 21, made his professional debut last April and has won all of his fights since- his latest saw him stop the more experienced Jan Korec, from the Czech Republic.

Florence's skill, speed and power was too much for his opponent and it took him just a minute in the opening round to send Korec to the floor.

A few more combinations from the young fighter saw after Kovec fall to the canvas for the second time

His opponent tried to box on and got close to finishing the round before the referee stopped the competition in two minutes and 45 seconds due to safety concerns for Korec as the Ledbury fighter was throwing powerful combination flurries which there was no response to so the referee had no choice but to stop the competition.

Florence said that he put on the powerful performance to thank his friends and family who travelled in the snow to watch him perform at Walsall Town Hall.

His coach and father Fred Florence was proud of the performance.

He said: "It's good to see all the hard work and dedication that he has to put in to his career pay off.

"He wants to see how far he can go, we aim to take him as far as we can, hopefully that's all the way and we will see what the future brings."

Currently Florence works a full-time job while chasing his professional boxing dream.

"We are looking for sponsors or anybody willing to help him as at the moment Alex is living like a normal person getting up in the morning and going to work and then trains the hours he can.

"He has got to compete against men that train five days a week three times a day. He can only train five days a week in the evenings only because of his work commitments so Alex is looking for somebody that can back him financially.

"Then he can train like the rest of the professionals dedicating his life to his job. As you can see by his performance he is making them look easy now, what would happen if he put the time in it like the rest of the professionals?

"There has got to be a person out there that would like to back a good horse and to help put a Herefordshire boxer on the map. A big thank you to Joe Lock who has been with Alex since he was 10 years old training."

Ledbury Boxing Club where Alex trains is open Tuesday and Thursday, if you would like to join them you can contact 015316318789 or 07833918134.