Sorry mam, it's no more Mr Nice Guy

Normally I'm quite a relaxed person and quite hard to wind up but on Friday I wasn't going to stop punching until his head came off or the referee stepped in. In the end he stopped the fight after one minute, 36 seconds.

The reason was because I felt I had a point to prove. In the build-up to the fight, my opponent accused me of being "spoilt" and lacking his hunger.

It might have scared my mam a bit, but I think it was good to see that side of me. It's no more Mr Nice Guy. In pro boxing you've got to be a bit more aggressive and more of a fighter. As an amateur I would have tried to box and move against him.

My mam might have been surprised, but I've always known it was there. As an amateur I stopped a lot of opponents.

My next fight will be over six rounds but I still haven't done four yet. All three of my pro fights have ended before the third.

To be honest, I thought Shakura might have taken me the distance but without being big-headed I'm punching so, so hard he couldn't.

As I mentioned in my last blog, the next few weeks are going to be about R 'n' R. But it's also going to give me an opportunity to do some of the things I haven't been able to while I've been in training.

Tomorrow I'm starting the Great North 10k - not with a gun, but by ringing a bell - and I've got a busy week of personal appearances, including opening a play area in Penshaw on Tuesday and making a presentation and a little speech at a school in Durham.

I get different requests every day. I'd love to do them all but the boxing's got to come first.