Ben Whittaker hung on as he overcame a tough final round to beat Conor Wallace.
An Olympic silver medalist and unbeaten professional hopeful, Whittaker was looking to step up to world level in this IBF title eliminator against Wallace in Birmingham.
Whittaker showed his skills during the first half of the match, dominating proceedings while commanding the distance between them.
He hit the Irishman, now based in Australia, hard. Wallace nevertheless withstood them, but Whittaker, who splashed in some of his trademark displays, was so at ease forward for nine rounds that he appeared to be in complete control.
But everything changed suddenly. Wallace hurt him with a big kick in the 10th round. He chastised Whittaker for keeping his hands low, keeping that pressure on the Olympic star.
Wallace badly shocked Whittaker in the 12th and final round. He made Whittaker roll up and kill to pin and grab Wallace. This saw Whittaker slip and trip on the canvas, going down three times, but the referee didn’t count any of them as knockdowns.
Whittaker drops Wallace on the ropes
Whittaker eventually won by unanimous decision, taking it 117-111, 116-112 and 115-113 on the cards.
Bilal Fawaz retained the British and Commonwealth super-lightweight titles with an impressive knockout finish as he knocked out Eithan James in their eighth round.
