( CNN ) -- More used to walloping cricket balls than opponents , Andrew Flintoff successfully swapped batting gloves for boxing gloves on Friday night beating American opponent , Richard Dawson in their heavyweight fight at the Manchester Arena , England . Despite being knocked to the floor in the second round , the former England cricketer recovered to win on points ( 39 to 38 ) in the four-round bout witnessed by a 5,000-strong crowd which included former teammates Steve Harmison and Rob Key . `` As a personal achievement , this tops the lot , '' Flintoff said . `` The crowd made a massive difference tonight . I 'll appreciate I was sloppy at times , but it was a humbling moment . '' Flintoff , who entered the ring wearing the shirt of his county cricket club Lancashire , had the better of the exchanges in the opening round , but was knocked to the canvas by the 23-year-old Dawson during the second . The 34-year-old was quick to recover though and made the referee 's count comfortably before going on to dominate the final two rounds and secure the points victory . Flintoff announced his intentions to start boxing professionally in September and trained with former Irish world featherweight champion Barry McGuigan and his son Shane in preparation for his first fight . But his decision has caused controversy . British boxing promoter Frank Warren , whose BoxNation channel showed the fight , said in September that it would be `` car-crash television , '' while Frank Maloney , who managed former world heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis , described the bout as `` dangerous nonsense . '' Despite a successful start , Flintoff remains uncertain about his future in the sport saying he will delay a decision until the new year . `` I want some time off , have a nice Christmas . After Christmas I will start to decide what to do . It is quite fresh , still quite raw what happened . '' Flintoff maybe unsure what course to take , but many may agree with the comments of his friend and fellow paceman Steve Harmison . `` Great win @ flintoff11 ! ! ! '' Harmison tweeted , `` But please do n't do it again mate ! ! ! '' Flintoff played 79 Tests and 141 One-Day Internationals for England in an international career spanning 11 years and was a key member of England 's Ashes-winning teams against Australia in 2005 and 2009 . He retired from all forms of cricket in 2010 .
Former England all-rounder makes winning debut in the boxing ring against American Richard Dawson . Flintoff recovers from being knocked down in the second round to win on points in four-round bout . The 34-year-old 's entry into boxing has been controversial , one promoter calling it `` dangerous nonsense '' Former teammate Steve Harmison tweets : `` Great win @ flintoff11 ! ! ! But please do n't do it again mate ! ! ! ''