SEAN McGoldrick suffered the first defeat of his professional career and missed out on a maiden title in the paid ranks following a loss on points to Thomas Essomba at the Exhibition Centre in Liverpool.

Cameroonian Essomba claimed the vacant WBA continental bantamweight crown after the ringside judges scored the 10-round contest 98-93, 97-93, 96-94 in his favour.

Leading up to the fight, Newport’s McGoldrick, the former Commonwealth Games gold medalist now trained by Jamie Moore in Wigan, had won all nine of his bouts in the paid code.

He knew Assomba would give him his toughest test yet, and that’s how it turned out, with the African former Commonwealth flyweight champion doing more than enough to take the belt.