JACK Flatley insists he will be back better than ever after losing his unbeaten record and his English title.

The Farnworth favourite was edged out by Harry Scarff live on Channel 5 on Saturday night, the Derby man taking his super-welterweight strap after 10 hard rounds at the University of Bolton Stadium.

The judges scored the bout 97-94, 97-94 and 96-94 in what was a very tough fight to call.

It meant Flatley lost for the first time in his 17th professional fight but the 24-year-old is refusing to wallow in that and wants to bounce back quickly, potentially in a rematch.

"I’ve lost enough times in the amateurs, it’s just a number. I don’t believe having a one or a zero (on your record) makes a difference,” he told VIPtv post-fight.

"Why would I not take the rematch? I had the beating of him early on.

"He left it until the last half of the fight where he took a couple of rounds.

"They were very happy to have won the fight, there was no sportsmanship or anything after that.

"They got the decision and that’s it, end of.

"I’m not being disrespectful, but there’s harder fights than him.

"I want to fight again in December, I’m not taking any backwards steps now.

"I don’t want to go back to six rounds, four rounds, I would rather take chances in 10 round fights.

"I do think I won the fight, but I’m not going to bang on about it too much."

Flatley, trained by Alex Matvienko at Elite Boxing, came up against an opponent in Scarff who constantly switched from orthodox to southpaw to frustrate the defending champion.

The Bolton fighter hoped another victory on home soil, after winning the English belt in thrilling fashion against Craig Morris at the same venue in May, would thrust him into contention to face the best domestically and get a shot at the British title. 

Despite a frustrating defeat as Scarff made it eight wins out of eight as a professional, Flatley still believes he will get his chance to win another major honour in the near future and is confident a potential second fight with the new title holder would have a different outcome.

"There are things I can do to make sure I get the win next time," he said.

"I wouldn’t have been enjoying myself if I didn’t think I was in front in the fight.

"I’ve beaten people before now and they’ve all been bitter about it, I’m not going to be one of them people.

"I’m going to have a week off and get back to it.

"I’ll be fighting for the British title in the next 12 months.

"I don’t need the motivation to get in the gym, I’m going to come back even better."