Later this evening, Ben Whittaker will fight Conor Wallace in a final eliminator for the IBF light heavyweight title. The fight was shown live on DAZN. 

Fawaz (13-1-1, 5 KOs) is now 38 years old, but he was too strong and determined for a man 12 years his junior.

The switch-hitting James (17-3) is a talented boxer, but his lack of power means he has to box a perfect fight to beat the top operators on the domestic scene. In a sign of things to come, he controlled the majority of the opening three minutes but was shaken by a Fawaz combination as the bell sounded to end the round. 

Showing little respect for James’ power, Fawaz began to walk the younger man down and impose himself. physically. Both men were cut after an accidental clash of heads in the 4th round, but while Fawaz struggled to put his combinations together, he was landing the harder, cleaner punches.

James refused to fold. He landed his jab and chipped away with body shots - some of which strayed low - but Fawaz felt comfortable enough to take the shots and counter with far heavier punches. 

The writing was on the wall and, early in the eighth, Fawaz dropped James with a big right hand. James got up but Fawaz jumped on him and dropped him with another right to finish the job.

KAMARA GETS OFF TO WINNING START

Odel Kamara has been touted as a future star from the moment he signed with Matchroom. 

The 23-year-old junior middleweight from Liverpool won a bronze medal at the 2025 World Championship and has been immediately positioned as somebody capable of developing into a world-level talent and a major draw.

Kamara (1-0, 1 KO) got his professional career up and running with a 3rd-round stoppage of Thodoris Ritzakis (5-6-1)

Constantly feinting, Kamara got straight down to business. He pinned the outmatched Ritzakis in a corner and landed with a series of explosive right hands, one of which dropped the 37-year-old Greek fighter to the canvas.

Kamara used his jab and attacked in bursts but looked for a spectacular finish. 

Although he was on the receiving end, Ritzakis threw back and made sure the younger man knew exactly what it feels like to be in a professional fight. 

Midway through the third, the referee stepped in to stop the fight after Ritzakis absorbed another uppercut. It seemed an early stoppage, but the result was a formality. 

Kamara will be kept busy and has the style and personality to make a big impact. 

UDDIN SNAGS BRITISH TITLE

Hamza Uddin breezed through the early stages of his career, but the talented flyweight has spent much of this year sidelined by a hand injury.

Back to full fitness, the 23-year-old from Walsall outclassed Sean Bruce (8-3) to win the British flyweight title. An eighth-round stoppage win also earned Uddin (8-0, 5 KOs) the vacant Commonwealth belt.

Uddin was much too quick and sharp for the workmanlike Bruce, who kept his shape but struggled to pin down the sharp-shooting Uddin, who barely missed with his lead right hand. 

Bruce couldn’t match Uddin for speed and flair but he is far more experienced over the championship distance, and rather than setting a hot pace and trying to force him out of his comfort zone, he was content to stay at arm's length and box at Uddin’s pace.

In the fifth, Udinn floored Bruce with a well-picked left under the elbow. Bruce got up but Uddin leapt in and dropped the champion again with a left hook but then crowded his work and let a brave, determined Bruce land some clean counters of his own.

Things settled back into a predictable rhythm until the final seconds of the eighth when Uddin hurt Bruce with a right to the body and then brought it up to the head. Bruce got up, but the referee rightly stopped the fight. 

SULAIMAAN CONTINUES RISE

In an era when fighters are judged by how many social media followers they have, how they perform at press conferences and what music they walk to the ring to rather than what they do once the first bell sounds, Ibraheem Sulaimaan’s progress has gone almost unnoticed.

Sulaimaan (12-0, 5 KOs) outpointed the determined Sonny Hardy (12-1, 5 KOs) over 10 rounds to defend his English junior lightweight title.

The compact Hardy got his lead right hand working quickly against the rangy southpaw, but Sulaimaan darted in and out of range and countered with a razor-sharp left hand and a well-picked right hook to the head and body.

Refusing to be discouraged, Hardy managed to get his feet a few important inches closer in rounds four and five. He picked up a nasty cut over his right eye but forced the slick Sulaimaan to work hard for his moments of success.

The fight exploded in round seven. A left to the body forced Sulaimaan to sag, and although he stayed on his feet, he did lose a point for holding as he regathered himself. At the end of the round, a huge left hand sent Sulaimaan’s mouthpiece flying. 

Sulaimaan survived the crisis and his movement, and a slight edge in quality saw him over the line. The scores were 97-93, 97-93 & 96-93. 

OTHER RESULTS FROM THE MATCHROOM SHOW;

Aaron Bowen (9-1, 6 KOs) def. Klinton Baptiste (5-1) PTS 10 - super middleweights

Harley Burrows (3-0, 2 KOs) def. Matias Ezequiel Herrera (8-9-2, 5 KOs) TKO 2 - middleweights

Adam Maca (7-0, 6 KOs) def. Rogger Rivera (3-6, 2 KOs) TKO 2 - junior lightweights

Paige Murney (5-0) def. Linzi Buczynskyj (6-13) PTS 4 - lightweights