The 21-year-old light-middleweight proved much too classy for journeyman pro Steve Cooper, although the 30-year-old Worcester fighter proved he was not just there to make up the numbers when he put McAleese down with a stray right hand punch midway through the second round.

The ex-England under-19 international gave the 250 fans who had accompanied him to the York Hall, Bethnal Green, on Sunday afternoon plenty to cheer about as he quickly got over a jittery start to land a number of decent body shots in the latter stages of the opening round.

"I was a bit trigger-happy to start with – the atmosphere was electric and there must have been a thousand people chanting my name as if it was a title fight," said McAleese.

"But my coach Johnny Eames told me to settle down and pick my shots and, apart from the punch which knocked me over – and that only pushed me off balance – I don't think he hit me once," he added.

It was in the third round that McAleese established his superiority with a number of combinations and a couple of clean straight right shots rocking Cooper, who was saved by the bell at the end of the round.

But, just 1min 10sec into the fourth round of the scheduled six, the Newmarket boxer caught his opponent with two hefty body shots and, as Cooper dropped his hands, followed up with a left hook and a right to the chin as the corner threw in the towel.

"It was only the third time Cooper had been stopped in 31 fights and he was a durable opponent who could take a punch," said McAleese, who will take a break before getting back into training for his second pro bout in September or October.