Boxing: Skelton may have lost his crown but exciting group of tiros are coming through

Frank Warren celebrated his 57th birthday yesterday but it was his young Olympians who received the presents. On a night when veteran Matt Skelton crashed out and lost his Commonwealth heavyweight title, for the young trio it was a piece of cake, all three winning their professional debuts by demolishing Eastern European opposition.

Of the trio, golden boy James DeGale had the longest night, taking four rounds to out-point Georgian Vepkhia Tchilaia. It was a crowd-pleasing performance but it showed he will be as hard to beat in the pro game as he was in the amateurs.

Frankie Gavin stopped another Georgian, George Kadaria, in four rounds and Billy Joe Saunders, the youngest and, on the night, most impressive, needed only two to overcome Hungarian Attila Molnar.

For promoter Warren, who is between rounds in his High Court battle with former star man Joe Calzaghe, it's the start of a new era. His class of 2009, who will be in action again as a package at London's Excel on 25 April, suggested there are heady days ahead in the British fight game.

It was quite a weekend for British boxing's Eastern Bloc-busters. The Birmingham three had been beaten to the punch by Beijing bronze medallist Tony Jeffries, the Sunderland light-heavyweight who, on Friday night, belted out Aliaksandra Vayavoda of Belarus in Barnsley.

Back in Brum in front of a wildly enthusiastic 5,000 crowd, young Billy Joe was first up on a night when the other Olympians were accorded the full gladiatorial treatment in their ring-walks. Saunders may not have medalled in Beijing but at 19 he is potentially the best pro prospect of them all, such is his fluent style and variety of punches. A welterweight in the Olympics, he looked even more comfortable nearer the middleweight limit in his quick and easy disposal of the Hungarian.

South-paw Saunders, the Romany traveller from Hertfordshire, showed he can box and bang, rolling his shoulders, moving adeptly and even throwing the occasional bolo for good measure. Molnar, a gnarled old pro who had won 12 of his 30 fights, offered little resistance and was reduced to a punch bag when the fight was stopped after one minute 47 seconds of the second round.

The biggest cheer of all came for hometown boy Gavin, 23, another south-paw and the world amateur champion. He won inside the distance too, stopping Kadaria mid-way through the fourth and last round. Although he looked good, Gavin's task was somewhat tougher than Saunders', the Georgian at least fighting back and causing a cut on the bridge of Gavin's nose. But there was a new glow about a fighter free of weight worries, who had been unable to eat a decent meal for weeks in his vain bid to make the lightweight limit for the Olympics. He looked a trim, healthy 10st 4lb and will probably be a full-blown welter. Not the most flamboyant, nor the heaviest of punchers, he likes to work his man out and he did it efficiently.

De Gale, suitably clad in gold, completed the clean sweep, though he had to go the full four rounds against Tchilaia. The 23-year-old Londoner boxed with the same switch-hitting aplomb that earned him the Olympic crown and his domination was comprehensive, winning every round (40-36). The crowd unfairly delivered a sprinkling of boos, yet this is the way he fights. He is the Marmite of boxing: "You either love me or hate me."

The trio surely felt a sense of déjà vu facing men from the sort of nations who provided much of their opposition when they wore international vests. But these were trial horses, not the thoroughbreds who once dominated the amateur rings.

The night's major upset came when Martin Rogan, a 37-year-old real-life Rocky from Belfast, took Skelton's Commonwealth heavyweight title in the 11th. Rogan is a part-time cabbie who had won only a dozen fights before beating Audley Harrison. Skelton, who recently acquired the European title and has fought for a world title, had the hardest night of his life.

Twice his gum shield was sent spinning, his left eyebrow was split and finally he was sent skidding to the floor for an eight-count before a fight that had all the elements of a rough-house bar-room brawl was stopped.

It was a remarkable victory for the Irishman, who has come from nowhere to be ranked among the world's top heavyweights in a matter of months.