Jordan Thompson, Whittaker-Hart, Metcalf Secure Wins in Manchester

Jordan Thompson blasted out Mariano Angel Gudino, of Argentina, with a peach of a right uppercut in the second round of their cruiserweight eight-rounder on the Benn-Van Heerden bill in Manchester. 

Gudino was up at eight shaking his head and referee Mark Lyson waved it off at 0:47 of the second round, although he then protested. 

The Argentinian had been seven rounds with WBO cruiserweight champion Lawrence Okolie on a previous visit to Britain in 2019. 

The 6ft 7in Thompson, 28, is now unbeaten in 13 fights, a record that includes 11 stoppages inside three rounds. 

Light-heavyweight prospect Thomas Whittaker-Hart moved to 7-0 as he boxed his was to an eight-round points win over Ben Ridings. 

Whittaker-Hart is heavy handed but can crowd his work. The pair were both cut by a clash of heads in the first round, but then Ridings had some success, as he drew Whittaker-Hart in and countered well. 

It made Whittaker-Hart a bit more hesitant, but he tried walking Ridings down and only punching when in range. 

Whittaker-Hart started to get well on top in the sixth, as he landed with two heavy rights and then a good left hook, which Ridings took well, although he couldn’t find a reply. 

The Liverpudlian was well on top in the final two rounds, but Ridings never looked like being stopped. 

Referee Mark Lyson scored it 78-74. 

Luke Evans had the first blot on his record in his twelfth fight as the Salford super=lightweight as he climbed off the floor twice to claim a draw with Miguel Cesario Antin, of Argentina. Referee Steve Gray scored it 56-56. 

James Metcalfe got back to winning ways after defeats to Ted Cheeseman and Kieron Conway as he stopped Southampton-based Russian Evgenii Vazem in the fifth of a scheduled six. 

Metcalfe was warming up for a fight with two-weight European champion Kerman Lejarraga in Bilbao on May 20. 

A fight for unbeaten Cyrus Pattinson was scrapped when his opponent was pulled out because of an injury. 

Ron Lewis is a senior writer for BoxingScene. He was Boxing Correspondent for The Times, where he worked from 2001-2019 – covering four Olympic Games and numerous world title fights across the globe. He has written about boxing for a wide variety of publications worldwide since the 1980s.