Sam Noakes made a successful first defence of his European lightweight title on Friday night. Noakes won by TKO after Italian opponent Gianluca Ceglia retired on his stool at the end of the eighth round. The Maidstone boxer, 27, extended his perfect record to 15-0 in taking another step towards a world title shot. He also became just the second man to stop the durable Ceglia, himself a former European champion. “His experience showed and it was a tougher fight than I thought it would be,” Noakes told TNT Sports. “I knew he’d done a few rounds before but as Al (trainer Al Smith) was saying in t…
