YORK boxer Rafal Benka expressed his pride at securing victory on his professional debut.

Benka ended his long wait for his first pro fight with third-round technical decision over MJ Hall at the Sheffield Arena Car Park.

An accidental clash of heads saw Hall sustain a nasty and large swelling on his forehead and the ringside doctor deemed him to be in no position to continue.

Benka had been in control of the contest until that point and won a 30-27 decision from the referee.

“I feel so proud,” the York fighter told Fight Zone afterwards. “I have trained so hard since the first lockdown, which has been nearly a year and a half.

“I started very fast. The first round was fast, the second round I slowed down a little and then in the third round, Henry (Wharton) told me to just work on the jab slowly, slowly jabbing him and looking for a way in.

“I’m happy to be back in the ring.”

Benka, who boxes out of Acomb’s Henry’s Gym under the tutelage of York legend and three-time world title challenger Henry Wharton, made a quick start to the fight.

But the Poland-born boxer was finding it difficult to pin down the elusive Hall, a veteran of 65 fights in the paid ranks.

Super welterweight Benka was most effective behind his jab early on and throughout the contest.

The shot brought the 26-year-old plenty of success but his follow-up attacks were struggling to find their target.

In return, Hall too was finding it hard to lay a dent in Benka, who has taken his classy boxing style from the amateurs to the professionals.

His slightly awkward stance and footwork seems to indicate that he is going to be a tough fighter to hit and break down.

In the second, Benka remained composed and assured behind his lead left hand, even in the face of some taunting from Wordsley-born Hall, who stuck his hands behind his back at one point.

Later in the stanza, the Wharton-trained boxer produced his best work of the fight with a hurtful combination to Hall’s body and head with the 29-year-old being momentarily pinned on the ropes.

The defensive soundness of Hall allowed him to evade any prolonger danger however.

As the fight progressed to its second half, Hall came out in a more aggressive tone than seen in the first six minutes.

It led to a scrappy minute or so against the slick Benka before the fight-ending head clash.

As Benka ducked under a Hall overhand right and went to counter to the body, he and his opponent collided with each other on the forehead.

Hall immediately began to dab at the injury with his glove and, seconds later, referee Andy Brook called a halt to the bout and, after an inspection by the doctor, the fight was waved off.

After such a lengthy time on the sidelines waiting for his debut, Benka is hoping to make up for lost time by appearing regularly throughout the remainder of this year.

Benka and the rest of the boxers in Wharton’s growing stable may have further opportunities on shows broadcast on the Fight Zone app, which have been consistent since launching earlier this year.

“If I could, I would fight every week but Kevin Maree, my manager, he manages 88 boxers and they all want to be out too,” Benka said. “I would like to be out every week and fighting everyone and anyone.”