Bolton boxer Jack Cullen suffered a fourth-round stoppage as he lost out to rising American star Diego Pacheco in Liverpool on Saturday.

It was the first time ‘Little Lever’s Meat Cleaver’ had co-headlined a major bill but it ended in disappointment for the 29-year-old with a fourth professional career defeat.

Pacheco went into the bout with a perfect winning record and extended that to 18 wins from 18 outings - 15 inside the distance - in an impressive display that earned him the previously vacant WBO International Super Middleweight title.

Backed by a big following from his home town, Cullen started well, landing jabs in the opening round.

But 22-year-old Pacheco was unruffled and began to go through the gears in the second round, doing well on the counter attack.

The Californian turned up the heat in the third and landed two right uppercuts.

In the fourth round, he landed a right hand on Cullen’s neck and then floored him with the follow-up left hook to the body.

Cullen got to his feet but Pacheco landed a double jab and then two right handers which left the Boltonian slumped on the ropes and there was a left hook on his way down as referee Steve Gray jumped in to halt the fight less than a minute into round four.

After his win, Pacheco said: “I’m really happy with my performance. It was my job to deliver and I think I did that tonight.

“He was really tough. I respect him for getting up but I knew I was going to take him out in that round, I wasn’t letting him get away from that.”