Bordon bareknuckle fighter Darren Hendry returned to winning ways in style with a brutal victory against Corey Harrison at Crystal Palace.

Hendry knocked his opponent down five times before the referee stopped the fight in the second round.

The Bordon fighter suffered the first defeat of his career in his previous fight, when he was beaten by Anthony Holmes of Yorkshire in Newcastle in the Bareknuckle Fighting Championship.

Hendry had billed that fight as “the biggest of my life” as two unbeaten world champions went head to head for the right to call themselves the number one cruiserweight bareknuckle fighter on the planet.

But he responded perfectly to his first career defeat with an emphatic victory against Harrison.

The highly-rated fighter hopes to now be on track towards another potential title shot down the line.

“It was great to get back to winning ways,” said Hendry.

“I was relentless and was punching holes in his head.

“That maybe doesn’t sound nice, but the aim was to punch holes in the back of his head.”

Hendry praised the significant vocal support he received at Crystal Palace, and admitted it felt like a home fight.

“The support I had at Crystal Palace was amazing,” he said.

“I’ve fought in Newcastle and Sheffield before – so Crystal Palace was pretty much the closest thing to a home fight for me.”

Hendry had prepared for the contest with a gruelling training regime in Thailand, and he admitted the hard work and back-to- basics approach had paid off.

“I had never trained in Thailand before,” said Hendry.

“It was like Rocky as I had to go back to basics.

“I even came out to Eye of the Tiger as my walk-on music.

“The key thing was going back to basics – I trained like a proper spartan.

“I knocked Corey down three times in the first round and twice in the second round before the referee stopped the fight.

“You’ve got to put in the work in training – bareknuckle fighting is not like glove boxing.

“Bareknuckle is a tough sport – every fighter can lose as one punch can change a fight and knock you out.”

Hendry is waiting to find out who his next opponent will be, but he will maintain his fitness levels in the meantime.

“I’m now taking each fight as it comes, but it would be good to have a title fight again,” he said.

“I’ll work on my own strengths and keep my fitness levels up.

“When I’ve got a confirmed opponent I will tailor my training to who I am fighting, but I need to concentrate on my strengths.”