Dean Dodge said his Southern Area super-featherweight title fight with Danny Carr was a "good experience" despite suffering the first defeat of his professional career, which he has vowed to bounce back from.

The 27-year-old was making history as the first man from Yeovil competing for a title, with the fight in Bolton going the full 10-round distance, before the judges ruled in favour of Carr on points.

"Obviously, I’m gutted, disappointed it didn’t go the way I wanted it to go," said Dodge the morning after the fight.

"I trained really hard for the fight and Danny put on a good performance and he boxed well. He was quick on his feet, quicker than I thought he was going to be. I was on my feet and didn’t let a punch go.

"It was obviously a very, very tough fight and he boxed the way he did to do what he did to get the win."

The remarkable rise of Doge had seen him come into the bout after seven wins in a row, including beating Sean Davis last February to put him in content for the Southern Area title.

But despite Dodge hurting his right hand in the early stages, which he said was "frustrating", he landing well-placed punches with both his right and left hands to turn the tide into his favour in the seventh round.

But Carr turned it around to ensure the fight went the distance, in Dodge's first ever outing over 10 rounds, to pick up the win by a 97-93 margin.

Despite suffering his first loss in 11 fights and five years, Dodge - who is trained by Weston Warriors gym coach Dean Lewis, says he was taken aback by encouraging messages he received.

And he also he realised a childhood dream by boxing on live television on IFL TV and ESPN in America, which he called "massive" and "good to get myself out there".

He added: "It’s just really showed me that people are supporting me when I’m on the big stage and people from your hometown do get behind you and it does mean the world to me.

"I’ve had amazing support and I’ve had a lot of messages people have sent to me saying how proud they are of me. I did my town proud, I’ll be back and this is just a little bump in the road, I’ve had a lot of bumps in my life, and this is another one.

"We are going to try and get on another MTK show, see what opportunities come up. I spoke to the matchmaker who runs all the shows, Lee Eaton, and if an opportunity arises, I am going to take it.

"This is a great experience. It will stay with me for the rest of my life. You can’t buy those experiences, they will happen because I work hard and kept grinding.

"Hopefully it’s going to put my name out there now. I’ve lost my record now, so hopefully I’ll get more opportunities and more work because they might look at me as an easier route. I would like to fight for the Southern Area title again definitely."