THREE was the wham-bam magic number as York’s power-pack of professional boxers all capped their local hero baptism with victory.

On a night to celebrate the pro version of the noble art finally climbing through the ropes of a ring in the medieval walled city for the first time in more than a decade, the trio of Graham Fearn, Matt Doyle and Harry Matthews, the latter topping the “Dukes of York” bill he had worked manfully to establish, all marked their cards in conquest.

And all deserved to have their hands raised by either of the two appointed referees – Mike Alexander and Steve Gray.

These were far from simply “homer” verdicts as each of the threesome fended off awkward and spoiling challengers to crown their historic York debuts in front of a capacity crowd of 600 at an Oaklands Sports Centre abuzz with anticipation at pro boxing’s return.

Fearn got the night off to the desired start against Daniel Thorpe in a lightweight bout over six two-minute rounds.

Sheffield-based Thorpe, who started his long career at the famed Brendan Ingle stable, was a veteran of no fewer than 114 contests. The phrase journeyman could have been invented for him.

He provided arguably the toughest challenge for any of the York fighters on the night at Oaklands, especially as Fearn, who had long cherished the notion of fighting as a professional in his native city where he had fought several times as a prominent amateur of almost 20 years’ standing, was going into the contest on a three-bout losing run.

There was no chance of that streak being extended. From the outset New Earswick-based Fearn dominated, forcing Thorpe back with a tidy left jab and zip-fast footwork.

Those tactics clearly gave Fearn the opening two rounds as Thorpe retreated into a side-on, guard-up gait that was proving difficult to dislodge.

The Sheffield fighter caught Fearn with a wild hook in the third – the only round the New Earswick ace let slip – but it was a rare incursion as Fearn regained control.

In the fourth round, Fearn had his Sheffield rival rocking on his toes with a four-punch series of hits, but too often Fearn rushed in to the finish the job and was inevitably coiled up in Thorpe’s smothering tactics.

However, the York boxer continued to excel with that punishing jab and several bone-threatening blows to the ribcage to be declared the winner by 59 points to 55.

Into the hall next came Doyle, aged 27, but making his professional debut after returning to the sport from a lengthy absence.

His entrance was acclaimed by a raucous shout of “Doyley, Doyley” from his supporters. They were encouraged enough by their favourite’s all-action display to regularly return to the chant.

Doyle’s opponent in the welterweight exchange over four two-minute rounds was Tamworth’s Matt Seawright, for whom the bout was his 25th as a pro. But while the gap in experience was wide, no one would have guessed who was the more practised fighter.

Lean and menacing, Doyle swarmed into his opponent, who instantly covered up into a defensive stance for the rest of a whirlwind first round.

The Heworth hitter knew by then he had the measure of his adversary and from the second round to the final bell he unleashed a series of stinging rights behind a jarring jab to gain the ascendancy.

Seawright’s lone ploy now was to try to ensnare his man at close quarters, but in the third round Doyle displayed enough nous to escape by exploding three uppercuts, one of which connected flush to leave the Tamworth man’s nose issuing a volley of claret.

By the fourth and final round Seawright was clinging on to Doyle, whose dominance was greeted by the tumult of his followers. When referee Steve Gray hauled his right hand into the air as the winner by 40-36, Doyle’s grin was as wide as the Ouse.

Two bouts, both at middleweight of six two-minute rounds, then followed which yielded comfortable points’ wins for Hull’s stylish Luke Allon over Jamie Norkett, of Newark, and Leeds’ Lee Murtagh, who was too sprightly a presence for Sheffield’s Paul Royston.

Spectators who had taken the opportunity for more refreshments during either of those two contests, returned to their seats to get the Oaklands hall rocking for the appearance of Matthews against fellow middleweight Duncan Cottier, from Romford, in a match-up over four three-minute rounds.

Last into the ring, Matthews certainly looked the part in silver-sparkling shorts and matching hooded top under which was a T-shirt bearing the motif of ‘R.I.P Ian Mullarkey’, a long-time friend of the Matthews’ camp who tragically died in the weeks leading up to the York show. Before the preliminaries to the bout, a silence was observed by the crowd.

Then the action started. Matthews maintained unremitting pressure on his shorter opponent, whose face gradually reddened as the Matthews’ jab located its mark. But the Pocklington Rocket was not firing on all cylinders in the first half of the fight, during which his approach work looked slightly predictable.

However, Matthews upped the tempo, finally warming to his mission, and the mantra of “Harry, Harry” began to echo around the arena. A brace of crunching missile rights crashed into Cottier – one to the head, the other belting into the torso – and Matthews was living up to his top-of-the-bill status. Another right rippled into the Romford fighter as the Pocklington prospect enjoyed his best three minutes of the night.

As the final round started there was only one way Cottier could put a dampener on the historic Oaklands eve and that was to locate a decisive lone punch. But Matthews cannily and cagily kept his distance working behind the jab and, when given the opportunity, launching a right cross that forced Cottier to exercise caution.

The 40-36 verdict in Matthews’ favour was thoroughly deserved as York’s return to pro boxing action revelled in three degrees of triumph.