Nice Britain’s Ben Whittaker marked his American debut with a powerful second-round victory towards Richard Rivera at Barclays Heart in Brooklyn.
The flamboyant Whittaker dropped the American on the finish of the primary spherical with a proper hand, though Rivera pointed that the punch had caught him on the again of the pinnacle.
However Whittaker, nicknamed ‘The Surgeon’, clinically caught his rival with a left-hander in the beginning of the second and, though Rivera staggered to his toes, the referee stopped the light-heavyweight bout.
The win improved Whittaker’s document to 12 wins and a draw from his 13 skilled fights, whereas Rivera suffered the third defeat of his 30 battle profession.
“Brooklyn, that is the way you do it man,” stated Midlands boxer Whittaker, who’s famend for his showboating and did a bit dance on the finish of the primary spherical on the way in which again to his nook.
The battle happened on the undercard of Xander Zayas, who tried to defend his WBA and WBO super-welterweight titles towards Jaron Ennis.
However Zayas succumbed to a seventh-round stoppage, with the referee ending the competition after the Puerto Rican boxer had been knocked down for a 3rd time within the battle.
It was the primary defeat Zayas had suffered in his 24-fight profession, whereas unbeaten American Ennis has 36 wins from as many fights.
