FORMER Bulls player Joe Lumb has landed his first senior boxing belt after returning to the ring.

The 21-year-old hooker, who has signed for Keighley Cougars ahead of next season following his release from Odsal, has made an immediate impact after reviving his interest in his other favourite sport.

Boxing as a light-heavyweight, Lumb beat Yorkshire champion Stefan Baxter in only his second senior bout.

Trainer Peter Cannon, from Bradford's Sedbergh amateur club, said: "Joe hasn't been boxing since he was a junior. But we put him on a show a couple of weeks back and he got a second-round stoppage.

"The opportunity then arose for the Yorkshire belt and we grabbed it with both hands. He was up against the home-town favourite in Greetland, near Elland.

"Joe had a lot of support and there must have been 500 in there. It was always going to be a good fight because neither boxer takes a backward step – but I was always pretty confident."

Lumb boxed 13 times as a junior but quit after he sustained a badly broken finger while playing in the youth ranks at the Bulls. He was not allowed to combine both sports when he was given a full-time deal at the club.

Cannon expects Lumb will have to hang up the gloves again when the Cougars kick off their League One campaign.

"Joe is out again on Friday in Hull and then he's got a mandatory defence in York on December 9," said Cannon.

"But rugby is his first love and we'll let him carry on. It's up to him if he comes back to boxing again – but he's a young lad and the world is his oyster."