Hove boxer Neil Linford is still searching for his first major honours after he drew with Radcliffe Green for the vacant British Masters light-heavyweight title.

Referee Ian John-Lewis scored an exciting ten-round contest 95-95 so the belt remains unclaimed although the draw opens up the possibility of the two meeting again to try to produce a winner.

Linford, 25, who is trained by Ronnie Davies after moving to Hove from Leicester, was bitterly disappointed after the contest at the Elephant and Castle.

He said: "The decision by the referee was fair enough. I was not happy with my performance at all to be honest. Maybe I made it tougher than I should have done. I stood toe-to-toe with him when I didn't really need to.

"He's a lot tougher than people think. He is deceiving."

Linford, who damaged his right hand during the seventh round and finished with a badly swollen left eye, has had two shots at major honours against Brian Magee for the IBO inter-continental title and David Starie for the British and Commonwealth.

However, both came before he linked up with Davies and both were at super-middleweight.

After a strong opening round by Balham man Green, Linford looked to have the fight under control as his settled in behind his useful jab and worked his opponent's body to build up a lead.

However, Green, in his first ten round contest, finished the fight powerfully and took charge for the last three rounds as he scored with a succession of uppercuts.

A draw appeared a fair result, although Green felt he had done more than enough to take the verdict and collapsed on the canvas in disbelief after the referee raised both fighters' arms.

Davies said: "It was not the best performance but I thought Linford had done enough to win it early on. It is disappointing. I have seen him box a lot better than that."