Ben Whittaker jinked and jived his way to another commanding win as he stopped Vladimir Belujsky to take the latest step in his ascent to stardom in Manchester.
‘The Surgeon’ had joked about how he ‘looked good’ after hitting the scales in exquisite condition earlier this week, and ‘looked good’ once again on Saturday to halt Belujsky with a decisive onslaught in the eighth and final round.
More dancing, more showboating, more extravagance and, crucially, more evidence of the not-so-secret thorn out to pierce the British boxing landscape, and perhaps even beyond that.
The victory would move the Olympic silver medallist to 4-0 as a professional while heightening the temptation to fast-track the light-heavyweight prospect.
Whittaker teased a dose of his arsenal with a beautiful left counter uppercut to establish his authority in the opening exchanges, before wind-milling into a triple-layered right hand to the body.
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Ben Whittaker says the more he learns the more dangerous he becomes after he stopped Vladimir Belujsky.
He had his opponent scampering backwards on the ropes moments later and sought to capitalise with an exquisite left-uppercut, after which he swivelled left-to-right to plead for more from the crowd.
Then came a gloriously-timed left that bought Whittaker two seconds in which to break out into dance, much to the joy of the crowd and even the amusement of a smiling Belujsky.
Whittaker could afford to pick and choose his moments, flashing his potential while veiling the very best of British boxing’s rising superstar.
That, he will save for a later date.
With the tricks and the theatre came another glimpse of his menu of skills, Whittaker clinically switching up his line of attack between head and body, dropping from chest shot to liver shot and vice versa.
He decided to ramp up the tempo in the third and launched a fierce attack to the body of Belujsky, who was sent tumbling to the canvas, almost taking Whittaker down with him as he scrambled to grab the Olympian’s legs.
There was still time for Belujsky to sneak in a firm right hand of his own at the end of the right, bringing a grin to the face of Whittaker.
Ben Whittaker (Image: Lawrence Lustig/Boxxer)
The onslaught of body shots continued to come, Whittaker disguising them beautifully from a lowered-arm starting point, where it looked difficult to generate the kind of power he was able to.
Another left hook jolted the body of the visitor, before Whittaker followed up a four-shot combination to the head by ducking and swaying to taunt his opponent.
‘Turn it up’ was the call from Whittaker’s corner at the beginning of round seven, prompting a frantic flurry of shots to reassert his dominance as he preceded to stalk Belujsky across the ring.
At one point Whittaker decided to stick out his head to offer Belujsky a free shot, the lack of response indicative of a fear of what might come back in return.
Finally in the eighth enough was enough as the referee brought things to a stop in the wake of little reply to Whittaker’s sharp-snapping fists.
Simpson comes through Crighton test
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Highlights as Callum Simpson beats Boris Crighton by unanimous decision.
The heavy-hitting Callum Simpson took another step towards a domestic title shot as he overcame an incredibly stern Boris Crighton in his most valuable test yet.
Backed by the travelling Barnsley faithful, the South Yorkshireman banked 10 crucial rounds in his development and passed a useful test of patience to beat the Glasgow fighter by unanimous decision.
Simpson, who had never fought beyond four rounds in the past, prevailed 99-92, 97-93, 99-91 on the scorecards to extend his unbeaten professional record to 12-0.
“I think it was 10 solid rounds, a lot of questions had been asked, I did 10 rounds comfortably and pushed the pace all the way through,” said Simpson.
“I think at times I might have pushed too hard to stop it, everyone in sparring knows that’s my pace. On my 12th fight, 10 solid rounds, I’m looking for a title next.
“Trying a bit too hard at times, it works sometimes in the gym but he’s very awkward. I think I looked better than most guys did boxing him.”
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Callum Simpson says he is looking for titles next after his unanimous points victory against Boris Crighton.
The 26-year-old flew out of the traps and rarely looked like dropping the tempo as he lived up to his in-gym reputation of fighting at a ferocious pace.
He was immediately on the front foot with rapid three and four-shot melees, retreating Crighton onto the ropes with onslaught after onslaught.
Crighton sought to find the occasional opening of his own with an overhand right used on multiple occasions, and offered a minor wake-up call with a crisp shot to warrant a reaction from the Simpson-heavy crowd in round three.
Callum Simpson celebrates his win over Boris Crighton (Image: Lawrence Lustig/Boxxer)
A glancing left would rock Crighton in the fourth to prompt another frantic attack on the ropes, with Simpson then resisting temptation to become frustrated in the face of impressive resistance as he continued to maintain the pace in the second half of the fight.
Round seven played stage to another rampant Simpson assault to which Crighton stood firm, before a string of bruising right hands in the ninth sent the ‘Blade’ back-peddling to underline another commanding round.
Fan-favourite Jeffers beats Chelli in upset
Chelli and Jeffers in action (Image: Lawrence Lustig/Boxxer)
Local favourite Mark Jeffers celebrated the biggest win of his career as he stunned Zak Chelli to clinch the vacant Commonwealth Silver super-middleweight title after standing in as a late replacement for Mark Heffron.
Jeffers impressed on his way to a unanimous decision win, the judges ruling the contest 97-94, 97-93, 97-94 in favour of the Chorley man.
“I’m so happy, that was an awful awful performance, two weeks of notice.
“You don’t understand how much better I am than that, tonight was about winning.
Chelli found himself trailing early on after a confident start from the 25-year-old, who looked tidy with his ability to switch up angles and his decision-making when it came to balancing front-foot attacks with putting the onus on his opponent to take the fight to him.