Lewisham super middleweight Rossco Parker’s dreams of a triumphant return to the ring at his London homecoming were brutally dashed on Saturday.

Parker suffered his first stoppage loss in the UK’s premier boxing league at Alexandra Palace at the hands of old rival Artur Gorka.

Returning to action for the first time since dropping a highly controversial decision to Andy Thompson back in October, Parker was hoping a move back up to the 12 stone division would revive his fortunes in the competition.

But those ambitions were dealt a heavy blow at the hands of old rival Gorka as he suffered an early knockdown at the beginning of the opening round.

The Lewisham man was then stopped by Gorka before the end of the first when referee Ken Curtis waved the contest off after Parker came under another sustained barrage of punches without reply.

Parker had promised to give his rival 100 percent respect after coming up short during their first encounter.

However, there was little he could do to fend off the Polish express during what little time he was in the ring as the powerful opponent unleashed some vicious looking shots to the head early in the round.

This sent him to the canvas for only the second time during his league run.

As Parker got to his feet, it was clear he had been shaken up by the early barrage of punches.

And the end came quickly afterwards when Gorka again continued his assault, forcing Curtis to jump in to save Parker from more serious damage.

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