Watford’s Anees Taj displayed impressive power on his way to a first-round knockout on his professional debut at York Hall.

The 23-year-old turned professional in July after a successful final year as an amateur and was matched against Lithuanian veteran Imantas Davidaitis.

Taj came into the bout with a new team of trainers – Gary Foley and Sean Murphy, the amateur coaches that trained Anthony Joshua at Finchley Amateur Boxing Club – and the experience on the team certainly paid off.

After landing a right hand to the body, Taj noticed an opening and finished the fight with just the second punch he had thrown – an overhand right than landed directly on Davidaitis’ face, leaving him unable to beat the count.

It took just 48 seconds for Taj to end the bout.

The Watford man represented England on two occasions in the 2018/19 boxing season, once in Mexico and again in Spain, and he also won silver at the 37th Elite National Boxing Championships in Pakistan.

That ranked him at number two in the country and saw him selected for the Pakistan national team, with a possibility of qualifying for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.