Philip Bowes has vowed not to suffer another defeat after admitting he could have been more professional in preparation for his first professional loss against Joe Hughes on Saturday night.

The Leytonstone-born light-welterweight surrendered his Southern Area title in defeat to Hughes (10-1) at the O2 Arena on Saturday but refused to place blame for the tenth-round defeat on anyone but himself.

He said: "I am not making excuses; I lost to the better man on the night. All the greats have suffered defeats and gone on from there to win belts, but I won’t be having another defeat, I can tell you that much."

The 30-year-old continued: "I could have been more professional in getting there on time but they changed my slot three times. I was told one time and then they said another and then I had to rush from my home on the train and I arrived only three minutes before the bell.

"I had to get my stuff on and get my hands wrapped up in three minutes which wasn’t ideal - and I did not have time to warm up either, so that did not help."

With Hughes ahead on points, Bowes took a trademark Hughes left hook which sent him to the canvas, and after briefly battling on, his corner threw in the towel - a decision which still rankles.

Bowes explained: "I still think there were 30 seconds left so I was more p*****off about that than anything else. I know I would have been able to survive and go again.

"Up until about the fourth or the fifth round everything was going fine. I was really felt tired in there and don’t ask me why, because I have got no idea, but I kept going because I’m not a quitter."

Asked what he felt had gone wrong during his first loss in ten fights since turning professional, Bowes replied: "I have just been thinking about it and replaying it over and over in my head but I am not going to make any excuses or dwell on things. I know what it was that went wrong on the night and I will work hard to make sure I don’t repeat those mistakes, but at the end of the day, I lost to the better man.

"He was not better than me but multiple things didn’t happen on the night and when that happens you can’t point to one particular thing and highlight that."