TRAINER Gary Lockett vowed to be patient with Nick Blackwell as the pair look to improve upon Saturday’s display against Jack Arnfield.

Blackwell held on to his coveted British middleweight title with a unanimous points victory at Bristol’s City Academy but Lockett was far from impressed with his fighter’s performance.

The Trowbridge champion’s strength and toughness gave him the edge over Blackpool’s Arnfield but with ‘Bang Bang’ failing to secure a stoppage, his Cardiff-based trainer saw plenty to pick fault with.

“There’s lots and lots to work on,” said Lockett.

“I expected a much better performance. He’s been looking really good in the gym but sparring and gym work is a lot different to fighting.

“He needs a lot more fight time. We just need to be patient with him so that he can bring the work from the gym to the fights.

“There was the footwork, the slow start, jabbing with his feet out of range; there’s lots of things.

“But then again, I’m very critical. He showed a lot of heart but then again, that doesn’t even come into my mind because we know that’s what Nick has got.

“He’s a rough, tough, hard, fit guy and that’s how he won it in the end.

“He showed little glimpses of what we’ve been doing in the gym but he’s just got to do more.”

Meanwhile, Blackwell’s promoter Mick Hennessy was more generous in his assessment of what his charge served up, with Saturday’s main event nonetheless making for an exciting contest.

“He’s pure entertainment. He’s pure old school. He’s an old-fashioned TV star, isn’t he?” Hennessy told the Wiltshire Times.

“He looked like he was going to get him out of there but he was a tall, rangey, solid boxer and his guard was good.

“He was hard to break down and he was hard to get through to. Nick had to work hard and that kid could have beaten a lot of top fighters on this particular night.”