TONY Hill’s trainer has warned supporters not to expect too much too soon.

Wayne Batten was pleased to see his charge step up in weight and perform well in his comeback fight against Vygaudas Laurinkus at Winchester Guildhall on Saturday night.

Hill was such a successful amateur that there has been a lot of hype surrounding the Southampton man’s entrance to the pro game.

He has already fought for a Commonwealth title but Batten insists Hill, 27, is still learning and that his amateur pedigree doesn’t mean a shortcut to pro success.

“People don’t always understand – that was Tony’s 14th fight so really he is still learning and finding his feet,” Batten said after Hill’s points victory in the first pro boxing tournament in the city for over 30 years.

“I don’t care what anyone thinks, you’ll see the best of Tony when he’s had 25-30 fights. He’s still got plenty of time with his age and I think it’s exciting times for Tony.

“He’s a championship fighter and it’s a case of finding that right mix and where we go.”

He added: “He looked comfortable at that weight. Obviously championship fights are completely different.

“He fought a tough kid but I was happy that Tony got the six rounds under his belt because fighting at that weight for the first time he carried it well.

“We’ll have a little sit down and decide what we should do next with his weight.”

Batten was also pleased to see a win for his Southampton gym’s starlet Joe Pigford.

“He couldn’t have asked for a better fight really because you look at that guy’s record and he’s fought all the top professionals, all the champions, and fought for titles and Joe came through it.”

The experiment of taking professional boxing to Winchester for the first time in more than 30 years also threw up some talking points.

“It was a nice venue and a good show,” said Batten.

“I know the British Boxing Board of Control are reporting very favourably about it, which is always good.

“There were people who came up to me from the Winchester public and said it was the first time they had seen professional boxing there and they were really happy.

“There was a massive improvement in terms of making the show better, and so overall it was a good night.”

More about the big Winchester fight night in today's Daily Echo