KICKBOXER John Lee's intense training regime made all the difference as he punched and kicked his way to his first ever WAKO English title.

The Grimsby Martial Arts Academy fighter battled to a unanimous points victory over Doncaster's Phil Ayres and already has his sights on a British title rematch with the formidable Audi Kinga in October.

The middleweight (72-75kg) encounter in Basildon saw Lee and Ayres slug it out for the full five rounds before all three judges awarded the World Association of Kickboxing Organisations English belt to the Grimsby man.

"It was a real tough fight and he was a very tough opponent. He rocked me in the first minute but I came back at him and my fitness told in the end," explained Lee.

"That was the difference really – I've been working really hard on my fitness with Wayne Patterson at the club and doing lots of pad work.

"I trained for six weeks for this fight, twice a day and I've got to say a massive thank you to Wayne and Mike Blythin for their help.

"Thanks to the fans that travelled all the way down to Essex to support me as well, that means a lot to me.

"It was quite an explosive fight – real no-holds barred stuff – and there were some good punches and kicks going in.

"But I was confident I had won it at the end because I had stuck to my game plan.

"I was really happy because that's what I've trained for and everyone at the club have been working for – it's a real team effort with these guys and I'm just one part of that."

The encounter was Lee's first action since his unsuccessful shot at the WAKO British title in December – a bout that ended in a points defeat to multi-title holder Kinga.

The opportunity to have another crack at the highly-rated Springhealth Kickboxing Gym fighter is a exciting one for Lee.

He said: "I gave him a good fight last time but when I look back his fitness told over mine – I learned a lots of lessons from that fight and realised I had to raise my fitness in order to make that step up in class.

"I believe I can beat him now and I am much more determined than I was the first time around.

"Hopefully I will also be selected for the England team. That's picked in July and it would be great to get on the team for the World Martial Arts Games in Beijing or the European Championships later this year."