Boxing: I'll be back, Anderson pledges after brave loss

"I'll be back," said Anderson, whose promoter, former world champion Ricky Hatton, was roundly cheered in his home town when he led the Scot into the ring to the sound of an excerpt from the film Braveheart.

Anderson and Groves then provided the main entertainment of the evening at the MEN Arena in a thrilling bout on the undercard of the dire heavyweight title fight between David Haye and the hopeless Audley Harrison.

Both the Scot and the young champion earned a fraction of Harrison's pay, but unlike him, put on a real performance of committed professional boxing.

Anderson bossed the opening rounds, until an accidental clash of heads midway through the second forced him back, the cut later needing ten stitches.

In the third, Anderson landed some heavy punches and Groves was very professional in clinging on to the Scot before he was eventually dispatched to the canvas for an eight count.

Anderson closed in for the finish and referee Dave Parris looked set to stop the contest when the bell arrived to grant Groves remission.

His corner worked wonders on the youngster, who got on his bike in the fourth before going to work in the fifth. A very hard hook to Anderson's ribs stunned the challenger, before a series of punches brought Parris' final intervention.

At least Anderson can look back on a little bit of boxing history. His opening left jab was the first punch ever to be thrown in a British contest shown on 3D television.

"I had two weeks notice for the fight, but I had to take the chance," said Anderson. "I had the laddie going, I had him exposed, and I have done myself and my promoter proud, I feel.

"I know how good I am, and I want to be the best. I will be a champion and Ricky has promised me that he'll keep me busy."

Anderson, who had to miss boxing for an entire year as a result of facing serious police charges which were subsequently dropped, emphasised that the lack of time to prepare to fight Groves had been his biggest problem. He only returned to the ring in March, and was clearly still rusty.

"He had 12 weeks to prepare and I had two," said Anderson. "There was a lot to cram into two weeks, getting yourself mentally right, making the weight, sparring, but sometimes you have to take the chance.

"If that's me after two weeks, and considering I have been inactive and have had personal problems outside the ring, then I am ready to be fighting now. I want to show everybody what a properly prepared Kenny Anderson can do."

Hatton said: "Kenny has put himself right in the picture with that performance. I don't wish to take anything from Groves but the only thing that let him back in was the lack of time to prepare that Kenny had."

Anderson had a special message for his supporters back home: "They will have seen from my entrance that I had a bit of Braveheart, because I am so proud of being from Edinburgh and Scotland.

"I had been punching him up and down and I was having a wee bit of recovery. The referee stopped it too quickly, I wasn't hurt.

"I would love a rematch but that won't happen, so I'm going to take a wee rest then get back into training and try and get into the mix for the British title."