TRAINER Tony Borg says he wasn’t at all surprised by the level of Andrew Selby’s performance on his return to the boxing ring after more than a year out.

Selby’s comeback at the Newport Centre last weekend saw him become the first fighter to beat Tanzania’s Adam Yahaya (18-4-1) inside the distance.

It took less than two rounds for the St Joseph’s star to stop the 28-year-old African and take his unblemished professional record to 11-0.

And even though the contest lasted just under six minutes, there was still more than enough time for Selby, 29, to deliver a dazzling display 12 months and 20 days on from his previous outing.

The Welshman should have the details of his WBC world flyweight title eliminator against Mexican Julio Cesar Martinez Aguilar finalised any day now.

Were he to win that then Selby would set himself up for a second showdown with champion Cristofer Rosales, who he beat on points last May.

Assessing Selby’s return in Newport, Borg said: “One of the pluses of the night was the performance of

Andrew Selby back at that level and against an opponent with a winning record.

“He wasn’t some journeyman, he was a good opponent, but they were just at different levels altogether.”

He added: “Andrew’s performance didn’t surprise me at all.

“I took him up to Birmingham two weeks ago to spar Khalid Yafai and they did eight rounds together and Andrew looked fantastic.

“They then came down here and did another eight rounds and Andrew looked amazing again.

“Khalid Yafai is a world champion at the weight above and I’m not going to say Andrew beat him up, but he was bossing the exchanges and looking great.

“Andrew also had some heavy sparring with his brother Lee who can push him all the way.

Borg was also delighted to see Gavin Gwynne prevail in his final eliminator for the British lightweight crown against Myron Mills.

“I was over the moon for him, it was a fantastic performance,” said Borg.

“We went into it with two or three game plans because I know Mills’ trainer very well and he knows me.

“We wanted to take the fight to them first and then go from there.

“When we got to the sixth round I asked Gavin how many gears he had left and he said plenty.

“I think Gavin answered a lot of questions and opened a few people’s eyes.”

He continued: “Gavin’s just going to sit back now and see what they come up with.

“There’s a possible fight against Lewis Ritson (British champion) who is very heavy-handed but not the cleverest of fighters, or there’s Joe Cordina.”

Another St Joes success story from the Sanigar Events show was super-lightweight Robbie Vernon, who won on debut with a 90-second stoppage of JD Jones.

“Robbie had a great start,” said Borg. “He hadn’t been in the ring for six years before last weekend.

“I told him that you’ve only got one chance to make a first impression and he certainly made a good one.”

On the flip side, Borg was shocked to see Fred Evans suffer his first defeat in the paid code, a second-round stoppage by Ryan Toms.

“I was devastated for Fred but these things happen in boxing and lots of champions lose on the way up – the best come back from it,” he added.

And Borg reckons Robbie Turley, who pulled out of his clash with Commonwealth super-bantamweight king Ashley Lane after failing to make the weight, will be back.

“Robbie had been out for a long time and lost a lot of weight, but he just couldn’t get all of it off,” said Borg.

“He was still going to fight but I advised him not to take it – he’s in this sport for titles and not the money.

“He wasn’t in the right frame of mind, but I think he’s got another fight left in him.”