A SEMI-pro boxer whose career was on the verge of taking off has been given a six year jail sentence for wounding with intent.

Heavyweight Louis "Razor" Robinson - who had attracted interest from top professional boxing management - was caught on CCTV punching and kicking a man in Droitwich High Street after leaving a pub.

The 28-year-old pleaded guilty to causing grievous bodily harm with intent on the day a trial was due to start at Worcester Crown Court.

Robinson, of Spenser Walk, Bromsgrove, was described as a "gentle giant" in court. Jason Patel, defending, said he had been signed by champion boxer Amir Khan's former manager, who had sent in one of the many letters and references, and more than 200 messages of support on Facebook followed his guilty plea.

The incident happened in the early hours of Sunday, September 18 last year, Ekwall Tiwana, prosecuting, told the court.

Robinson had been drinking with a group including the victim Callum Hunter in the Star and Garter pub in Droitwich and they had left to go to a party. There was background to the situation and Robinson mistakenly thought Mr Hunter had a knife and was intending to harm him, Mr Tiwana said.

CCTV footage from a nearby Chinese restaurant showed Robinson taking Mr Hunter into a side street. When they returned a few seconds later, Mr Hunter was groggy after Robinson had punched him in the face.

Robinson, who was wearing training shoes, could then be seen punching him again, knocking him to the floor and kicking him twice in an assault lasting less than a minute before others intervened. Mr Hunter's jaw was fractured in two places. Mr Patel said he had since recovered.

He said Robinson had led Mr Hunter into a side street to search him for a knife due to a misunderstanding and there had been a struggle between the two men.

Robinson, he said, was a painter and decorator who had boxed from an early age. He was regarded as a "gentle giant" and a family man and the offence was out of character. He had been approached to work as a sparring partner with Dillian Whyte, who has fought Anthony Joshua, but the pressure of the court hearings had caused him to miss out on a TV appearance.

"That shows the high regard he is held in," Mr Patel told the court.

"The sentence now means he will lose the opportunity of turning professional on the big stage. That is a massive loss to an individual who has worked all those years and all because of 50 seconds of foolishness."

Judge Robert Juckes, QC, said there was a "sadness" to the position Robinson had found himself in but anyone viewing the CCTV would see what a serious offence it was.

Robinson, he said, could be seen "towering above" Mr Hunter and although he could have hit harder, the fact that he was a boxer who was trained to punch made the offence worse. It had taken place in the High Street in the early hours near a restaurant and was the sort of violence the courts had to deter, the judge said.