If Charlie Edwards was a betting man, he would have not only backed himself to defend his English title last weekend, but had a flutter on exactly how he would do it.

The 22-year-old put Phil Smith on the canvas in the sixth of 10 rounds on Saturday to make it six out of six on the pro circuit for the English flyweight champion.

The killer blow was an uppercut that Edwards and his coaching team have been working on in the build up to the bout.

And it was also the one Edwards thought would be too much for his opponent.

The Beddington man said: “It was classed as a TKO, but he was not getting up.

“I hit him with one uppercut shot and his legs went from beneath him and he fell. “I’ve not seen it back, but people tell me his eyes were rolling – the ref counted to four, but he was gone. He did not even attempt to get up.

“My trainer and I had been working on the uppercut, taking a little step back instead of jumping back like I have been doing and missing the opportunity to throw in a power punch.

“A little half-step back draws them in."

He added: “But from the first round I was getting him with the uppercut, and I was hurting him.

“I hurt him really bad in the third round, and I don’t think I got caught – may be once – and I controlled the fight and the moment came.

“He was getting desperate and could not deal with my movement, and I stepped back, threw the uppercut and it came with the perfect timing to be the knockout punch.”

He added: “Before the fight I said to my girlfriend ‘I have a funny feeling I am going to knock him out with the uppercut’. And I had a feeling it could be in round six or seven.”

Smith came into the bout with a high pedigree, but Edwards was confident of success before he even climbed into the ring.

He said: “Phil has never been knocked down in his whole career, he is no mug. He’s 29 and a strong man.

“On paper it was a tough test, but the way I prepared for this fight on the back of my last win, I have developed so much, especially under the eyes Danny Vaughan, meant I was always going to win.”