British champion Scott Quigg came through the toughest test of his professional career, getting up off the canvas at the Reebok to beat Jamie Arthur in the first defence of his super bantamweight title.

The 23-year-old Bury boxer was forced to take an eight count in the fourth round after being stunned by an Arthur left hook on Saturday night. But the unbeaten local hero recovered to stop the former Commonwealth champion in controversial fashion in the eighth round. The decision taken by referee Mark Green to controversially step in and stop the bout after Quigg's low left hook spun his opponent around, divided opinion.

He ruled that Arthur was unable to defend himself after dropping his guard, but the young champion looked sheepish as the result was officially announced and was quick to offer the challenger another shot. "The decision to stop the fight is up to the ref," said Quigg. "Arthur turned his back on me and the ref thought he had had enough. "We will have to sit down and see where we go from here, but I've offered to give him a rematch."

Arthur, who had lost five of his previous 23 fights, didn't seem overly enthusiastic about the offer after taking some heavy punishment near the end of the fight. But he was adamant the referee made the wrong decision. "I could have continued," he said. "I was off balance. I was trying to get the wind back in me. It was a good body punch from Quigg, but I'm disappointed. You can't convince me how a stoppage can come from that."