Adam Azim made the first defence of his European super lightweight title by stopping the previously undefeated Enock Poulsen in five rounds at Wembley Arena.
The gifted 21 year old built both momentum and a convincing lead in the opening rounds, until in the fifth, when after what appeared an insignificant punch to Poulsen’s right shoulder, his opponent went down and struggled to make the referee Anssi Perajoki’s count of 10. Poulsen, 31, had previously injured the same shoulder; the stoppage was recorded after two minutes and 39 seconds.
There is a growing school of thought that Ben Whitaker will prove the finest of Britain’s talented group of light heavyweights, and he earlier again demonstrated why throughout his victory over France’s Khalid Graidia.
His achievements will have to surpass those of Callum Smith, Anthony Yarde, Joshua Buatsi, Dan Azeez and Craig Richards if he is, but he eased to a fifth-round stoppage of a fighter who had only previously been stopped twice in 28 fights.
He dropped Graidia in the second round with a powerful body punch before largely resuming his customary showboating until the fourth, when without neglecting that same showboating he started planting his feet. His left uppercut proved a particularly potent punch; the stoppage was recorded one minute and 57 seconds into the fifth round, when, with Graidia struggling to defend himself after being backed into a corner and Whitaker almost effortlessly landing hurtful left and right hands, the Frenchman’s corner threw in the towel.
The promising lightweight Caroline Dubois eased to victory over Miranda Reyes of the US via three scores of 100-90 to remain in contention for a world title fight later this year, and Francesca Hennessy recorded her third victory in her third professional outing, over Argentina’s Laura Belen Valdebenito, when awarded one score of 60-53 at the conclusion of six rounds at bantamweight.
