By Elliot Foster

ECHO Arena, Liverpool, England –– Scott Cardle and Sean Dodd look set for fight number three after controversy marred their rematch.

The pair, who boxed in November, with Cardle (19-0-1, 6 KOs) retaining his belt by stopping the Birkenhead man in the final round, traded punches for a second time, live on Sky Sports as part of the undercard to the WBC super middleweight title final eliminator clash against Hadillah Mohoumadi at the ECHO Arena in Liverpool.

And despite it being a great fight, with Dodd (10-2-1, 3 KOs) looking controlled throughout and Cardle needing to up his workrate from early on, it was somewhat soured by the scorecards turned in by the three who’s opinion mattered at ringside.

Two judges gave it even, a draw at 114-114 each, while another inexplicably handed the fight to the champ by a margin of 116-112, ensuring that Cardle kept hold of his crown via a majority draw.

Cardle landed a big right hand in the fifth round, but was cut by the left eye a short time later, causing a boost in the confidence of ‘Masher’, who had no complaints at the decision.

The last half of the fight was one that tossed and turned, with Cardle’s trainer Joe Gallagher telling his charge in the later rounds that he had to knock the challenger out to be in with any chance of keeping hold of the prized Lord Lonsdale belt.

Despite this, though, and a late rally from Dodd, the 31-year-old was unable to complete the Cinderella story and the fight looks set to go again, with both fighters and promoter Eddie Hearn keen for the roll-around to move into a trilogy.