Paul Butler demolished Oreste Bernabe Nieva with a brutal body shot that left those ringside wincing and promoter Frank Warren declaring the Ellesmere Port fighter  was more than ready for a world title crack.

Butler  – making his bantamweight debut – stopped Nieva for the first time in his career, pulverised the Argentinean with spiteful punches before dropping him with a vicious left to the body.

“I was really pleased with my performance on Saturday night and that is just the start of things for me at my new weight,” said Butler.

“I felt comfortable and very strong in the ring, my punches were sharper and I was throwing them with more spite and venom.”

Butler, 25, took his unbeaten record to 15 fights and added  the WBA Intercontinental bantamweight belt to add to his British, Commonwealth, WBO and WBA intercontinental super-flyweight titles.

His devastating performance drew comparisons with former world champion Ricky Hatton, who made a habit of leaving opponents in a heap with sickening shots to the body.

Butler said: “The comparison's with Ricky Hatton are very flattering, he was one of my idols when I was younger, he was the master of body punching and I'm constantly watching video footage of his past fights to learn from.

“I'm not resting on my laurels, though, I know there’s a lot more to learn and develop and I’ll be facing better fighters than Nieva on the way to the world title, but there‘'’s a lot more to come from me.”

Warren has targeted a fight with IBF bantamweight world champion Stuart Hall and believes a scrap between Butler and the Darlington man would be a big draw.

“I think Hall against Butler is a fight the fans would really love and I believe we could get it across to the general sporting public, not just boxing diehards,” said Warren.

“Regardless of which division, I'm very confident I'll get Paul his world title chance this year.

“He lives the life and is a pleasure to be associated with. He’s got a great chance of making it big.”

Butler’s friend and training partner Matty Fagan recorded his fifth straight win since turning pro with a comprehensive points victory over Yordan Vasilev.

Ellesmere Port native Fagan, 25, produced his best performance to date, winning every round and showing bags of class against the game Bulgarian.