Gravesham mayor Joseph Jaggon presented Dhami with an engraved plaque at a special gathering at the town's civic offices in Windmill Street.

Dhami, 28, won the title after a gruelling 12-round contest when he put the defending champion on the canvas five times before clinching an overwhelming points victory.

He said: "It was nice to be recogised for my achievement which has put Graves-end back on the sporting map.

"And I would like to thank again all those who supported through the long wait before I finally got a crack at the title."

Dhami, who clocks on as usual for shift-work at nearby AEI Cables, said he had no firm plans at this stage for a title defence.

He said: "Obviously, it would be great to defend the title in Gravesend but, realistically, it is likely to be elsewhere.

"As yet, the British Boxing Board of Control has not nominated a fighter as the number one challenger and I may do a voluntary defence before the board instruct me to do a mandatory one."

Cllr Jaggon said: "Harry has achieved a great deal for the townspeople of Graves-end but also the Asian community in general."