WARRINGTON boxer Danny Craven thrived in the atmosphere of his professional debut and can not wait for his next fight in 2017.

The former Hook and Jab fighter, who represented England in an impressive amateur career of more than 60 bouts, started his pro career with a bang on Friday evening.

The 23-year-old smashed his way past Latvian, Aleksejs Grustans, in the first round of their scheduled light welterweight four-round contest at Manchester's Bowlers Arena, where 'Taz' had huge support.

"It was absolutely incredible," he said.

"The crowd was amazing, I didn't know how many fans I actually had.

"I just want to say thank you to everyone who showed me their support.

"The atmosphere was absolutely incredible, everyone tore the roof off the Bowlers Arena.

"I couldn't have imagined the night to have been any better than it was.

"I had an amazing night, I enjoyed every second of it and I hope I have everyone comes again to support my next fight in February."

Craven, who is managed, trained and promoted by Heywood's Kieran Farrell, started the contest at a rapid pace, naturally looking to impress from the start of his debut.

'Taz' held that pace throughout, working away with solid shots to his Latvian opponent's head and covering up when the game Grustans attempted to respond.

Grustans' attempts to land telling shots were in vein for the most part, as the explosive Craven evaded all of the Latvian's punches before coming back with his own flurries.

Craven's relentless pressure took its toll after one minute and 34 seconds of round one.

Grustans was taking too many punches and after receiving a heavy left hook referee John Latham decided to call an end to the contest, awarding 'Taz' the win via first-round technical knockout.

Fellow Warrington man Nathan Wheatley, who recently boxed on the undercard of Jorge Linares vs Anthony Crolla at the Manchester Arena, was unfortunately unable to appear on Friday due to an injury.

However, he is expected to be in a big fight alongside Craven in the early months of 2017.