SIMON Akufo admitted he was “devastated” after losing his WKF world title to Ilya Usachev.

The Halesowen kickboxer was stopped in the fifth round by his Russian opponent at Birmingham Irish Centre last night (Saturday).

Akufo never really recovered from being floored with a brutal right hand, which broke his nose, midway through the first round.

Despite the 31-year-old's best efforts to fight back, a kick to the body in the fifth left him on the floor again and saw the contest waved off.

Speaking afterward Akufo was honest in his assessment.

He said: “I’m devastated but tonight I lost to the better guy.

“He was sharp, he was in great shape. I got caught cold early on and was dropped.

“That is the best shot I have ever been hit with. I managed to get up up, just about, even though I went back to the wrong corner.

“From then on it was always going to be a struggle.”

Defending the title he won against Chris Deakin 14 months ago, Akufo had been welcomed to the ring by a huge roar from the home crowd, with the visiting Usachev forced to stand and watch a promotional video before his opponent appeared.

But the energy of the build-up was suddenly sucked out of the room when Usachev, the WKA champion, landed with the right.

A clearly dazed Akufo took a further standing eight count before surviving to the bell.

From then on the home fighter tried his best to find a foothold in the contest but for every shot landed, Usachev seemed to hitting harder and cleaner.

Finally in the fifth the pressure told. Akufo went down from a kick to the ribs and despite surviving the count, he was floored again by another kick soon after and by then the referee had seen enough.

The Halesowen man beat the canvas in frustration and was visibly distressed in the immediate aftermath but later acknowledged there was little he could have done.

Akufo said: “The kicks are far more powerful than the punches, he caught me with the heel right on the rib – there is a strong possibility it is broken.

“To get up from that was a titanic task, I can still feel the pain now.

“The people who are here, who were supporting me, got me up.

“I tried to keep going and the referee stopped it. I was arguing with the ref but if I’m being totally honest there is every chance he would have stopped me in the next round anyway.”