Miles Shinkwin feels he has done himself “no harm at all” after a controversial points defeat for the BBBofC English light heavyweight title on Saturday.

Shinkwin, 28, faced home favourite Joel McIntyre in Portsmouth amidst death threats from a partisan crowd, and was beaten by a unanimous decision after a pulsating 10 rounds from both men.

The pair were meeting for the second time in their professional careers, after a 97-95 victory for the Bushey fighter closer to home, in Bethnal Green, in July 2014.

This time, having already worked up the home crowd by wearing a rival Southampton football kit to the pre-fight press conference, Shinkwin felt the ferocity of their support for McIntyre had left him with little hope of victory before the bout had even begun.

He said: “It wasn’t until we were there that we realised that the crowd would play a big part in the outcome and we were never going to win.

“We thought the scorecard was a bit of a joke and both he and his manager agreed with that.

“It was pretty hostile. I had people threatening me and I’ve never had that before; but I loved it.

“The threats and that didn’t bother me and I felt amazing going in – I marched in with my head up.

“You can imagine the people saying those kind of things; there would have been riots if I had won.”

Despite enjoying the raucous atmosphere, Shinkwin was left frustrated. He felt the fight was over before it had begun.

It ends a year the boxer already labelled as disappointing in the build-up, with only three bouts under his belt, and he is already focusing on a re-match against his south-coast opponent in 2017.

He said: “I loved all the atmosphere but I don’t want to go into a fight decided by a crowd.

“I just want the winner to be the winner at the end of the fight. I didn’t win it by a mile, but one judge gave it to him by five points which is just unacceptable.

“One or two, I could understand. People in the crowd were saying to my family they would take a draw.

“I’ve asked for a third fight, in more of a neutral venue, and if I were him I wouldn’t want to leave it at 1-1.

“I don’t think a fight in Britain will sell as well as me and him. I don’t want to drop down a level where there’s no interest, either.

“In the fight I had before this, there was no desire from me and I could’ve probably lost; I just wasn’t interested in the fight.

“But the other night people were saying it was the fight of the year for them. I need a challenge, and a third fight would be great – it would be the best money he can get, fighting me.”