BILLY HARDY retained the European featherweight title with a landslide points victory in front of his home town fans in Sunderland last night.

The 28 year old out scored Steve Robinson decisively on all three judges' score cards to sustain his world championship ambitions.

The scoring reflected the champion's command of a fight in which Robinson rarely looked like resurrecting a career flattened by Naseem Hamed.

Hamed, who meets American IBF holder Tom Johnson in a unification fight at London Arena on Saturday is now Hardy's target.