Despite a tremendously gutsy performance at Brentwood's International Centre on Saturday night, Newport boxer Paul Samuels' dreams of lifting the IBO light-middleweight title were ended by old foe Richard Williams after he was stopped very late in the 10th round.

When the two fighters had met at the same venue back in June, Williams had been forced to endure a torrid second round before seeing the contest halted in the very next session, having sustained two cuts over his right eye.

The wounds though, according to referee Richie Davies had been caused by a clash of heads which under IBO rules allowed Williams to retain his title with the contest declared a technical draw.

For this return meeting Williams opted to keep things at a distance and concentrate on boxing instead of being dragged into a war-territory far more suited to Samuels.

Paul made his entrance in a Wales soccer shirt, to the roars of a large travelling support who with the help of airhorns made themselves heard throughout the fight but it was the man from Stockwell, looking quietly confident, who made the better start, scoring with neat right-left combinations to take the second round after an understandably cagey opener, which saw only a dozen shots reach the target.

By the third the action was beginning to warm up, a solid left hook to the head from the smaller South Londoner was met with a series of hooks to both head and body from Samuels and though Williams' shots were scoring regularly Paul just grinned and shook his head, as if to say "you can't hurt me."

An excellent right hook to the chin from Williams, his best shot yet, rocked Paul midway through the fourth and by the end of the round the Newport man who had been forced to absorb some crunching late shots returned to his corner bleeding from his nose and mouth.

Williams was looking fairly relaxed going into the fifth round but Samuels reminded him that the contest was far from over by slamming home two huge rights which backed the local favourite on to the ropes prompting another burst from the airhorns of the Welsh supporters.

These same fans had further cause for optimism when Samuels maintained the upper hand in the following session despite having to recover from a low blow in the early stages though another left hook to the chin from Williams in the dying seconds was maybe the best shot of the round.

The first signs that the end may be approaching came late in the ninth when Samuels seemed to all of a sudden look very tired despite the fact that Williams had had a fairly quiet round and the travelling supporters' fears were confirmed.

A straight left from Williams midway through the 10th jerked back the head of the Newport man and then with the round in its closing seconds Williams delivered the coup de grace, an excellent right to the point of the chin sending Samuels to the canvas, where despite rising at the count of nine Wolverhampton referee John Coyle decided that he had seen enough and called a halt with just one second remaining on the clock.

Both men embraced each other at the end but it is now a matter for Samuels to decide if he has gone as far as he can, he had intimated previously that he may call it a day if beaten, whilst Richard 'The Secret' Williams will be reviewing his options for his next outing.

l Wladimir Klitschko remained on a collision course with Lennox Lewis by retaining his WBO heavyweight title against Jameel McCline in Las Vegas.

Klitschko, one of two fighting brothers from Ukraine, showed he belonged among the heavyweight elite by dropping McCline late in the 10th round and winning the fight when the American's corner refused to allow him to continue.

"He was tough but simple," said Klitschko, having served notice that he will be a force to deal with in the heavyweight ranks.

Klitschko's victory keeps him on course to face Britain's WBC and IBF world champion Lewis. He is regarded as the biggest challenge remaining for Lewis.