Disappointment for Northampton's Conway as he loses to Williams in Las Vegas

Kieron Conway is left disappointed as Austin Williams is declared the winner of their WBA International middleweight fight in Las Vegas

Fighting on the undercard of Canelo Alvarez's world middleweight title unification win over Gennadiy Golovkin, Conway became the first man to take the explosive Williams to 10 rounds, but was beaten on points.

The judges awarded a unanimous points decision win (scores 96-93, 97-92, 97-92) to the 26-year-old American, who had won nine of his previous 11 professional fights by knockout.

Conway started strongly, and the fight was even throughout, but the Team Shoe-Box man was left bloodied and had to take a count in the ninth round after being felled by a Williams uppercut.

Kieron Conway lands a strong right on Austin Williams

The Northampton man recovered and stood toe-to-toe with Williams to the very end, but couldn't find the knockout punch in the closing stages, and it was the American who claimed the WBA middleweight international title.

The defeat is the third in Conway's 22-fight professional career, while Williams now boasts a record of 12 wins out of 12.