19:59:51
BUBBLING NICELY
Willings starts the second round by landing a crisp one-two, left hook combination which draws cheers from the crowd. It only serves to fire Whittaker up further and back he comes with two more big right hands. Some chin shown from the 23-year-old. This one is heating up nicely – six to go.
19:54:38
FAST START
Whittaker in no mood to hang around. He is straight into his groove and there is real venom on his shots from the off. Drops Willings midway through the opening round with a right hand but the Widnes man gets up. Whittaker is straight back on him with more big right hands but Willings makes it to the bell. This one won’t last much longer.
19:45:35
WHITTAKER V WILLINGS UP NEXT
We are onto fight four of six with Leon Willings now in the ring and Ben Whittaker set to ringwalk now. This one is scheduled for eight.
19:39:58
CHAOS AT RINGSIDE
As Riley conducts his post-fight interviews, he gets into a heated exchange with Isaac Chamberlain, the current British champion. Then, to add fuel to the fire, Chamberlain’s mandatory challenger Chev Clarke turns up. The interview has to be terminated as things appear to get physical.
19:30:29
WE GO TO THE SCORECARDS – RILEY UD
Alexander 98-92
Foster, Gray: 99-91
As suspected, Riley wins big on all three scorecards. Very polished performance there but a disappointing night for Lawal who is now 0-2 since October.
19:26:29
FINAL ROUND
Another round in the bank for Riley, who dances in and out of distance throughout with Lawal just not quick enough to get anything off. A frustrating evening for the former British champion.
19:21:48
TWO LEFT
Riley is boxing well, staying well out of trouble and picking Lawal off every time he chooses to hold his feet. He must be out of sight on the cards by now with Lawal needing an unlikely and dramatic knockout to claim a victory from this point.
19:14:22
SAME STORY
Riley is just too slippery for Lawal to pin down properly. In fact, in the sixth it is Riley who manages to get his opponent in the corner before landing to head and body. Here comes round seven.
19:10:22
HALFWAY HOME
Things heating up a little bit in the fifth with Lawal landing a hard left hook while Riley responds with a lovely right hand counter. It is still only singles though and neither man are really hurt or in any trouble.
19:06:24
INTO FIVE
Four down, and not much going on here. The pair are not exchanging much as of yet. This is not quite the fight many of us were hoping for. Now we’re into the fifth.
18:58:19
RILEY SUCCESS
Not much to report here with the fight settling into a pattern of Lawal taking centre ring and stalking while Riley circles around the outside of the ring. However, it is Riley who lands with the more meaningful shots of round two, with two perfectly timed right hands finding a home.
18:54:22
WE’RE OFF
Very uneventful first round with both men just having a look and giving nothing away. Arena is pretty full but it’s very quiet in here with little action in the ring.
18:48:01
HERE COME LAWAL AND RILEY
Next up is the intriguing 10-round cruiserweight clash between undefeated Viddal Riley and Mikael Lawal, in his first fight since he lost his British title to Isaac Chamberlain in October. Both men are in the ring.
18:36:22
CHELLI v SIMPSON NEXT
Promoter Ben Shalom confirms that Simpson will now face British champion Zak Chelli, who was watching from ringside, next.
“There are not many fighters in the UK with that knockout power,” Shalom says.
“We’ve promised him a trip to Barnsley. It’s a great British title fight. May the best man win.”
18:29:51
IT’S ALL OVER
A chilling right hand finally puts Mbabe on his back and there is simply no coming back from that as referee Mark Bates counts him out. A very impressive performance for Simpson and a highlight reel finish to boot. Job done. Official time of the stoppage is 1:10 of R4.
18:27:48
RAPID FIRE
Early in the third, Simpson rocks Mbabe to his boots with a right hand that sends him stumbling but not down. The Barnsley man follows it up with yet more rapid-fire combination punching but his Tanzanian opponent is made of stern stuff and is refusing to go over.
18:23:38
MORE OF THE SAME
More one-way traffic in round two with Simpson landing flashy three and even four-punch combinations which Mbabe is swallowing. Simpson not sitting down between rounds, he’s up for this. Round three…
18:19:34
THE SIMPSON
Backed by a noisy pocket of travelling Barnsley fans, Callum Simpson makes a good start here and starts to turn up the heat on Mbabe towards the end of the first. This is scheduled for 10 but, on that evidence, we might not get there.
18:12:22
RECAP
For anyone only just joining us, you’ve missed Alan Babic stopping Steve Robinson on his feet in the sixth. It was a fight that involved a lot of this:
18:10:51
WE ARE BACK IN BUSINESS
Here comes Dulla Mbabe, for the first fight of the main televised card. Remember, if you haven’t already, to download the Boxing News app and get involved in the prediction league!
17:35:49
SIMPSON UP NEXT
Following Alan Babic’s post-fight interview, which involved Brighton heavyweight Tommy Welch appearing and asking to fight the Savage next, we now await the arrival of Barnsley super-middleweight Callum Simpson, who takes on Tanzania’s Dulla Mbabe over 10 rounds next.
17:26:45
IT’S OVER IN THE SIXTH
Referee Sean McAvoy was thinking the same as me. Robinson does not go over but when Babic continues to land with clean, unanswered shots, he decides to step in. A strange stoppage but certainly in Robinson’s best interests. Official time of the stoppage is: 54 seconds of R6.
17:25:11
SOME CHIN
Babic gets through with four or five heavy shots right on the button but Robinson is still standing. This is becoming quite hard to watch but Robinson has still not gone over.
17:20:31
FOUR DOWN
Babic looks to have hurt Robinson with a series of right hands which landed cleanly. But the Newcastle man does not budge and responds with a big right hand of his own. Into five we go.
17:15:14
AND WE ARE LIVE
Welcome along to tonight’s ringside live blog from the o2 Arena where Fabio Wardley defends his British heavyweight title against Frazer Clarke later on tonight.
I am Declan Taylor and, after a few wifi problems here in press row, I will now be keeping you up to date with proceedings here.
First in the ring on this tight, six-fight card is Alan Babic against Steve Robinson at heavyweight. We are now three rounds down in this slugfest.
British Heavyweight Champion, Fabio Wardley takes on Olympic Bronze Medalist, Frazer Clarke for the British, Commonwealth, WBA Continental and WBO European heavyweight titles at the O2 Arena, London. The main card is live on Sky Sports from 6pm in the UK. US fans can catch all the action from 1pm ET and 11am PT on Peacock.
Undercard action begins on the Sky Sports YouTube channel from 5pm UK, noon ET, and 10am PT.
Wardley vs Clarke Weights and Running Order
12 X 3mins – BRITISH, COMMONWEALTH, WBA CONTINENTAL & WBO EUROPEAN HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP
FABIO WARDLEY – 243lbs vs FRAZER CLARKE – 266lbs
10 X 3mins – IBO INTERCONTINENTAL WELTERWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP
FLORIAN MARKU – 146lbs vs CHRIS KONGO – 146lbs
10 X 3mins – ENGLISH CRUISERWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP
VIDDAL RILEY – 198lbs vs MIKAEL LAWAL – 198lbs
8 X 3mins – LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT
BEN WHITTAKER – 177lbs vs LEON WILLINGS – 177lbs
10 X 3mins – SUPER MIDDLEWEIGHT
CALLUM SIMPSON – 167lbs vs DULLA MBABE – 169lbs
10 X 3mins – HEAVYWEIGHT
ALEN BABIC – 217lbs vs STEVE ROBINSON – 239lbs
