Ben Whittaker further underlined his significant potential with a first-round blitz of Benjamin Gavazi on a statement debut for Matchroom.
The 2020 Olympic silver medalist twice floored his German opponent in a short-lived main event on home soil at the NEC in Birmingham on Saturday night, winning the WBC Silver light-heavyweight title in ferocious style as he sent another serious statement of intent across the division.
Gavazi had put together an 18-fight winning streak since losing on his professional debut, but was quickly overwhelmed as he was sent to the canvas by a spiteful barrage from Whittaker that finished with a massive right hand.
He beat the referee’s count, but there was still more than a minute left in the round and the ruthless Whittaker was in no mood to let him off the hook, teeing off at will as he finished proceedings swiftly with a devastating right-left combination upstairs that left Gavazi flat on his back in the middle of the ring and in no position to continue.
‘The Surgeon’ moved to 10-0-1 after his 11th professional bout and remained undefeated, making it back-to-back commanding victories having successfully bounced back from his controversial draw with Liam Cameron by stopping the latter in the second round of their rematch in April.
It was a brilliant start to a new phase in his career under Eddie Hearn and Matchroom, whom he joined on a long-term deal last month after leaving Ben Shalom’s Boxxer.
On the undercard, lightweight rivals Cameron Vuong and Gavin Gwynne fought to a majority draw in a fierce battle for the vacant WBO Intercontinental title in a rematch of their initial fight from 12 months ago which Vuong controversially won on points.
Former UFC star ‘Meatball’ Molly McCann earned her second consecutive boxing victory on points against a bloodied Ebonie Cotton, while Tom Cowling became the new Midlands Area middleweight champion after a tight split-decision win over Aaron Bowen.
Ibraheem Sulaimaan picked up the Midlands Area title at super-featherweight with a sixth-round stoppage of Nico Ogbeide, after Manchester super-featherweight Zelfa Barrett had outpointed Liam Dillon over eight rounds and featherweight prospect Alfie Middlemiss remained unbeaten with a six-round decision win over Engel Gomez of Nicaragua.
