Birmingham battler Sam Eggington kept his title hopes alive with a one-sided, sixth-round stoppage of an outgunned Ashley Theophane in their 154lbs 10-rounder at the Fly By Nite Rehearsal Studios in Redditch on Friday night.
A thudding right hand to the body dropped former British 140lbs champion Theophane near the end of the sixth, prompting the timely intervention of referee John Latham.
Theophane (49-9-1, 18 KOs) was never at the races and simply overwhelmed by Eggington’s size and strength advantages from the opening bell. He struggled to break free from the ropes as Eggington hammered him to head and body with impunity.
The Londoner suffered a knockdown in the second after being winded by a left downstairs and sent tumbling into the ropes after a brisk left-right. He enjoyed moderate success thereafter before Eggington’s route one pressure forced the stoppage in the sixth.
It was Eggington’s first fight since dropping a wafer-thin decision to former British champion Ted Cheeseman at Matchroom’s Fight Camp in August.
“I’m over the moon. Back in August, I felt like I was hard done by. I definitely thought I won the fight. I needed to come back with a good win and prove my point and I think I done that.,” said Eggington (29-7, 18 KOs). “As soon as we knew we were fighting Ashley, we knew he was tricky and hard to hit, so you go for the bigger target. He is really good at tucking up, so they were hard to get through, but the ones that did get through I could feel were working.
“I’m quite happy to fight Ted Cheeseman in his back garden. I feel like I won the first fight, so why wouldn’t I go anywhere and box hm again? I’m not chasing anyone. I am quite happy to push on with my career without following people about and that has worked for me as of now.”
On the undercard, Brighton heavyweight Tommy Welch, son of former British and Commonwealth champion Scott, scored a second-round stoppage of Matt Gordon on his debut. Welch hammered Gordon in a corner when the referee stepped in.
In other action, Sevenoaks middleweight Michael Hennessy Jr. shut-out Dale Arrowsmith on the cards whilst former Love Island star Idris Virgo outpointed the seasoned Kevin McCauley over four at 160lbs.
Monaghan 154-pounder Aaron McKenna halted the usually sturdy Jordan Grannum in the second round with a left hook to the body whilst older brother Stephen McKenna stopped MJ Hall in the fifth after trapping his foe in the corner in a welterweight bout.
Meanwhile, the quicksilver Kaisee Benjamin claimed the Midlands Area welterweight crown over a spirited Ben Fields by a score of 97-95.