Larry "The Natural" Ekundayo successfully defends his IBF European welterweight title

NIGERIAN-born boxer Larry Ekundayo has retained his International Boxing Federation (IBF) European welterweight title by defeating Louis Greene of the United Kingdom in a unanimous points decision.

At the fight which took place at York Hall in east London on Friday night, Ekundayo defeated Green after 10 cracking rounds. Judges scored the fight 100-89, 98-91 and 99-90 in favour of Ekundayo, 36, popularly known as The Natural.

Following his victory, Ekundayo posted a message on his Twitter handle thanking his fans and sponsors. With this latest win, Ekundayo has now won 15 out of his 16 professional bouts with his only loss coming against Gary Corcoran in July last year.

He added: "Gratitude is my attitude. I want to say a huge thank you to everyone that came out to support, that tuned in on Boxnation, online and all the well wishes.

"Special thanks to my team. Big thank you to all my sponsors, massive love for the amazing support last night.”

First hitting the limelight when he won the African Boxing Union title in 2015 by beating Ghana's Joseph Lamptey, Ekundayo was the first winner of the 2012 Professional Betfair Light Middle Prizefighter tournament and since then has never looked back. He became the IBF champion in August after defeating John Thian at the Bethnal Green Arena in London.