Lamont Peterson punches Errol Spence during their IBF Welterweight title fight at the Barclays Center in New York City. Pic/AFP

Errol Spence battered Lamont Peterson on the way to an eighth-round technical knockout on Saturday to retain his International Boxing Federation welterweight world title. Spence strengthened his reputation as one of the best of boxing's rising stars, scoring his 10th straight win inside the distance as he improved to 23-0 with 20 knockouts. Spence, making his first defence of the title he seized from Britain's Kell Brook in May, dominated from the opening bell at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, pummelling Peterson with combinations to the head and body.