RISING light heavyweight threat Pawel August scored an impressive stoppage victory over Ukrainian challenger Max Mischenko on Saturday, in the first defence of his WBC international silver title, writes Marc Gatford.

Inside Poland's Gniew Castle, the Taunton boxer carried the fight to Mischenko for five relentless rounds, before breaking his opponent's resistance in the sixth with a clubbing body shot.

The challenger had his moments during the contest, scoring with single shots as August marched forward, but his attacks lacked the venom to deter August's high work rate.

August said afterwards: "Pressure was the key - I didn't let him breathe.

"I heard him say afterwards that I didn't let him breathe for a second.

"After the first round I decided to take the fight to him because I felt him gassing.

"I straight away thought he could not handle the pressure.

"By the fourth I knew he didn't want to be in there any more.

"He was complaining about me fouling and I could feel he would not manage to go 10 rounds.

"I didn't want to rush it, but I felt the stoppage was coming - he wasn't going to manage the pressure."

During August's previous contest against Dariusz Sek, he was at times guilty of being too eager to close the show.

On Saturday night, the Taunton man showed a maturity in his performance, demonstrating patience and composure in his attacks.

"I didn't get carried away, I was doing my thing," August added.

"I definitely [learned a lesson] from the last fight.

"There was a moment in the third round where I was loading up too many hard shots, so I got my jab going again and waited for my openings."

The 25-year-old unlocked the opening he was looking for towards the end of the sixth round.

Trapping Mischenko against the ropes, he ended a combination with a left hook to the body that sent the Ukranian to his knees.

"I was increasing the pressure and he was getting tired," said August.

"I had the opportunity to get him with the body shot.

"When it landed I thought he might get back up, but he could not recover."

August had forced a ferocious pace from the opening bell and the visibly exhausted Mischenko stayed down as the referee counted him through to his first knockout defeat.

And so the Southern Area champion extends his perfect record to 13 victories, one of the longest current undefeated records in British boxing.

He also reinforces his growing reputation as a dangerous finisher, with his fifth stoppage in seven outings.

This latest win keeps him on a collision course with the highly rated Pawel Czyzyk.

The pair met face to face in the centre of the ring after the contest to promote their summer showdown.

"It would be great if we could have fans back for the Czyzyk fight," August said.

"I'd like to thank everyone for the support I get - it's really overwhelming and means an awful lot to me."