Controversial call thwarts James’ debut

Despite putting in an excellent performance, tough Welshman Gary Cooper was awarded a 39-37 points victory.

James’ original opponent had to pull out and Cooper, 22, with two wins and seven defeats from his previous nine bouts, took the decision.

Trainer Mervyn Turner said: “Gavin showed tremendous heart and character and I know he will come back stronger.

“The preparation was perfect but of course a change of opponent at the last minute certainly did not help and I would not have chosen such a tough resilient boxer as Cooper.

“He was a bit naive in the way that he handled the fight and could easily have made sure of the win but he will learn from this experience and we will now start to prepare for his next fight which we hope will be in April.”

At a packed York Hall, James started at a good pace, but an unfortunate clash of heads saw Cooper cut over the right eye

Cooper came on strong in the second round and James showed his naivety as he stood and tried to trade with the strong Welshman.

At one point Cooper landed a clean thunderous left hook which shook James, but the Lutonian showed tremendous heart and character to come straight back fighting.

James continued to show some decent boxing skills in the final two rounds, but was far too often dragged into Cooper’s kind of fight.

The Shamrock fighter looked to have edged the third and won the fourth, but the decision went against James.