A DREAM start turned into a nightmare for Hari Miles in Norwich on Friday night, as the Blackwood heavyweight suffered at the hands of home favourite Sam Sexton.

Sexton, who is hoping to challenge for the British title later this year, secured victory early in the second of six scheduled rounds.

However, had Miles not misjudged the referee’s count then things might have turned out differently for the Welshman.

“It’s the most confident I’ve ever been going into a fight and watching Sam Sexton’s last couple of fights I thought there was no way he was going to beat me,” said Miles.

“It felt quite easy in the first round. I took the centre of the ring and was jabbing his head off. I put him on the ropes and landed a few good body shots.

“He came in swinging wildly and I was making him miss – it was a dream start for me.

“I walked out for the second round, threw a jab, and then ended up on the floor.

“I don’t really know what shot he hit me with because I didn’t see it coming.

“I must have dropped my hands for half a second and it goes to show that is all it takes against the likes of Sam Sexton.”

He added: “Within three seconds I had recovered and went to get up but decided to take a knee until the count of nine.

“I got up on nine but the referee said I had missed the count and stopped the fight. I argued with him but his decision is final at the end of the day.

“I felt fine when I got up, I wasn’t wobbling or anything, I just wanted to make sure my legs were steady but I must have misjudged the count. I was just my mistake.”

Miles says he intends to learn from his error and is hopeful that more offers to fight will come his way in the near future.

“It was one punch at the end of the day,” he said. “It wasn’t like I was getting beaten up. If I had been beaten up I would have hung up my gloves for good.”