Ben Whittaker vs. Conor Wallace Live Updates, Highlights and Results

Late-round drama notwithstanding—and closer-than-anticipated scorecards, perhaps—the result was exactly as forecast with Whittaker taking a unanimous decision.

The scorecards were 117-111, 116-112 and 115-113 in his favor.

So, he improves to 13-0-1 as a pro, while Wallace is now 17-2.

But fighting and beating Dmitry Bivol seems a big ask, at best.

"I think we should do it again and I'll beat (Wallace) down even better," Whittaker said.

"It was too easy (into the late going). I was playing a little too much. I took my eye off the ball a little bit. And he caught me with a good shot."

Wallace raised his hands as the scores were read but didn't complain about the verdict.

"We need to run in back," he said.

Promoter Eddie Hearn agreed.

"(Wallace) deserves another chance," he said.

Wallace finally began letting his hands go and landed with some solid left hands in the 10th that earned him his first scorecard round, and it inspired Whittaker to discard trainer Andy Lee's stay-away advice and fire away with one-twos in the 11th.

Whittaker hit the floor twice in rough clinches in the 12th and brought Wallace with him on the second tumble. It occurred again midway through the round and referee Kieran McCann didn't count for any of them even though Whittaker clearly appeared compromised.

Whittaker moved and grabbed through the final 60 seconds and made it to the final bell, leaving the broadcast team to claim that Wallace might have gotten his hand raised had he started his barrages a few rounds earlier.

As it stands on the B/R card, though, it's 9-3 and 117-111 for Whittaker.

Analyst Tony Bellew suggested to begin the seventh that Wallace will "have to force himself" on to Whittaker to affect any change in the way the rounds are going.

Whittaker decided to show off with defense in the eighth, nimbly ducking and spinning away from a Wallace flurry in the corner, then eluding another shot in center ring.

Wallace's corner, somehow, told him before the ninth that he was "doing all right."

It's not reflected on the B/R scorecard, where Whittaker has edges of 9-0 and 90-81.

The partisan crowd was restless to begin the fourth as Whittaker still pressed but was just as content to flick jabs and gesture as he eluded Wallace's counter replies.

A cut over Wallace's left eyebrow that was opened by a shot in the third round wasn't a factor, but the Irishman still did little offensively to suggest he was winning rounds.

The fight's first big punch, a looping right from Whittaker, came late in the fifth.

Whittaker resumed his "surgical" approach in the sixth, jabbing to Wallace's body and waiting—some might say too patiently—for an opening for a follow-up right.

The intros and ring walks were more exciting, but Whittaker is up, 6-0 and 60-54.

Whittaker took over as champion of the show's walkouts when he emerged from the locker room to a live mini-orchestra playing the theme of WWE superstar "The Undertaker."

"He's must-watch TV," blow-by-blow man Adam Smith said.

The local favorite seemed to want a quick exit as he stalked Wallace behind a long jab and fired overhand rights in the first and second, though Wallace, a southpaw, did land a stinging right jab that seemed to surprise his opponent early.

Analyst Tony Bellew said Whittaker might be "the best six-round fighter in the light heavyweight division," but added that he's concerned what'll happen to him after Round 6.

Wallace, though never in danger through three, simply didn't provide enough offense to be anything other than down 3-0 in rounds and 30-27 on points.

It's main event time in Birmingham, where 29-year-old Ben Whittaker, billed as the "Surgeon," faces Conor Wallace in an official IBF title eliminator.

Wallace is ranked second by the IBF at 175 pounds and Whittaker is ranked third.

The winner, in theory, will meet IBF champ Dmitry Bivol.

Whittaker is ranked 10th behind Bivol by Ring Magazine. Wallace is not ranked.

Let the record show, just in case 154-pound prospect Odel Kamara winds up somewhere, that his debut fight ended by TKO at 2:53 of Round 3.

"It's early days. He's a baby," analyst Tony Bellew said. "He's still fighting from scratch."

Ritzakis slipped below .500, dropped to 5-6-1 as a pro and was KO'd for the second time.

"Fantastic. You can see the quality. He's got a smile that lights up a room," promoter Eddie Hearn said. "He's a very, very special talent. He's an extreme, extreme talent. Britain's got a star."

Instant aggression was the pro M.O. for Kamara, who ripped a left to the body and followed with a bad-intentioned uppercut early as Ritzakis covered and retreated.

Ritzakis was pinned into a corner by a flurry before getting back to center ring and being dropped by a straight right hand in the round's final minute.

He rose and finished the first but didn't look like he'd be around long.

Both men went to the floor in the second after a mid-ring tie-up got too physical two minutes into the second and Ritzakis was taking the shots better, though he bled hard from his nose as the session ended.

Two hard body shots from Kamara drove Ritzakis to the ropes late in the third and he was soon stopped on his feet with a few more blows to the head drew a rescue from referee Ryan Churchill.

"He's made for the professional game," analyst Barry Jones said.

It's a co-main position in a debut bout for hyped prospect Odel Kamara, 23, a bronze medalist at 154 pounds in the 2025 world amateur championships in Liverpool who's already got the seal of approval from former world title challenger Tony Bellew.

"This kid's explosive. This kid is dangerous," Bellew said. "The kid wants to fight. He was born to fight."

He'll open his career with a four-rounder against Grecian veteran Thodoris Ritzakis, who's 5-5-1 in 11 fights since 2018. He was 4-0-1 in his first five fights but has lost five of six since 2019, including four decisions and a first-round KO.

Hamza Uddin, the new domestic flyweight champion, labels himself "The Great."

And he's got a believer in blow-by-blow man Adam Smith.

The official end came by TKO at 2:49 of the eighth round, lifting Uddin to 8-0.

"His name is Hamza Uddin, and this guy could be going a long way," Smith said. "That was brilliant."

It's not a great stylistic matchup, but Bruce is simply not moving his hands enough to expect to win rounds. His best moments of offense, in fact, came in the immediate aftermath of the knockdowns when he was trying to stave off a KO loss.

A third knockdown came in the final 30 seconds of the eighth when Uddin landed to Bruce's body and head. Bruce rose, swollen and bleeding, but he was waved off by referee Victor Loughlin.

The fourth was forgettable, but Uddin leapt in with a hard left to the body in the first minute of the fifth that dropped Bruce and a follow-up flurry included a left to the head that generated a second knockdown.

Bruce landed a long counter left of his own as Uddin charged toward a third knockdown that didn't come and the action simmered by comparison until the round ended.

Through six rounds, it 6-0 and 60-53 for Uddin.

It was a stirring entrance for the challenger, Uddin, who wore an orange-and-black robe complete with tiger stripes and began his walk to Survivor's "Eye of the Tiger" before a hype man proclaimed him one of boxing's next superstars.

Uddin, a right-hander, relied on speed and reflexes to begin the first, but the fundamental Bruce, a southpaw, was able to land straight shots over Uddin's low-held guard.

The work rates from both men dipped in the second and prompted some boos from the crowd as Bruce tried vainly to time Uddin's intermittent leap-ins, and the younger man didn't do much in terms of sustained offense.

Not a titillating fight, but a 3-0/30-27 clinic thus far for Uddin.

Another fight, another domestic title defense for Sean Bruce, a 30-year-old flyweight with eight wins in 10 career fights and two straight wins since he dropped consecutive fights in 2024-25.

The challenger, Hamza Uddin, 23, is 7-0 with four KOs and has won three straight by finish in a combined 14 rounds.

The official time was 1:14 of the eighth for Fawaz's TKO win, his fourth straight since a draw in 2025 and enough to keep him unbeaten in nine fights since his lone loss in 2022.

He's scored two straight finishes after not registering one since his third pro fight in 2022.

Fawaz dropped to a knee and got a brief respite from referee Ron Kearney after being hit by a low blow early in the seventh and James seemed buoyed by the rare bit of adversity suffered by his bully-like opponent.

James came out and boxed well early in the eighth, right up until he was nailed with a hard right hand and dropped to a knee while taking a count. He was waved forward by Kearney after rising but was clipped again amid a follow-up flurry and went face-first to the floor as both the referee and his corner team charged in to rescue him.

It's a third title defense for Fawaz, who improved to 13-1-1 and scored his fifth KO.

Fawaz made things rougher and James looked bothered by a body shot midway through Round 4 and he occasionally dabbed at a swollen and nicked left eye.

The challenger tried to use jabs and straight follow-up shots to establish distance, but he didn't look capable of consistently keeping the physically stronger Fawaz off him.

James worked well from distance, moved around the perimeter of the ring, and switched stances effectively in the fifth, but still didn't land anything consequential enough to dissuade Fawaz. He'll need a deep gas tank to continue the strategically evasive approach though the fight's second half.

James was hit, though not particularly damaged, by a quick flurry to the head in the first 30 seconds of the sixth, and it was evident Fawaz had little regard for any return fire.

Fawaz has leads of 4-2 and 58-56, in rounds and points, respectively, through six.

James was the busier and more frenetic fighter in the first and he landed a decent left hand to Fawaz's head after delivering a flicking right jab from a southpaw stance. Fawaz seemed content to stand with a high guard in a right-handed stance and not throw much early.

Fawaz connected with a long right hand late, prompting the broadcast team to mention the KO bonus promised to Fawaz by promoter Eddie Hearn before the fight.

Perhaps boosted by his late success in the first, Fawaz was busier and more aggressive into the second and landed the only significant single shots of the round.

The champion noticeably loaded up on power shots in the third and had a prolonged stretch of action with James pinned along the ropes. James looked distressed by Fawaz's superior strength and the increasingly rough nature of the clinches and infighting.

B/R's card has it 2-1 and 29-28 for Fawaz through three.

Another domestic title, this time at 154 pounds, is on the line in the afternoon's second fight when Nigerian-born and England-based champion Bilal Fawaz (12-1-1, 4 KOs) defends against Eithan James, who arrives with a 17-2 record with zero KOs.

Fawaz, 38, is defending for the third time after winning a vacant championship in 2025 and defeating both Ishmael Davis and Ryan Kelly in February and May of this year.

James, 26, has won four in a row since a stretch of two losses in three fights in 2024-25.

They're scheduled to go 12 rounds.

It's 12 in a row as a pro for Birmingham's Sulaimann, who swept the cards with predictable margins—earning two nods of 97-93 and a third by a 96-93 count despite being docked a point for excessive holding in Round 7.

The 25-year-old went 10 rounds for the second straight time after having earned previous points wins in four rounds (twice) and eight rounds (three times).

Hardy lost for the first time after going 12-0 since turning pro in 2023.

Looks like it was enough for Sulaimann, 25, who should walk away with the first successful defense of his domestic title at 130 pounds.

Hardy was better in the middle rounds—winning nos. 4, 5 and 7 on the B/R card—but the champion probably salvaged his own unbeaten record with a good stretch drive.

Call it 7-3 and 96-93 on the B/R card.

Hardy stepped in with his own body work to start the seventh and landed a hard left to Sulaimann's body that seemed to hurt the champion.

The Essex native continued to press the initiative in the back half of the round, leaving Sulaimann reddened and swollen under his right eye and without a mouthpiece after a hard left upstairs, though Sulaimann scored in the final five seconds with two hard counter lefts of his own.

Sulaimann was still the sharper fighter when delivering one punch at a time from distance in the eighth, but the ferocious Hardy negated the advantage by closing distance and using a superior work rate.

A second wind benefitted Sulaimann from the eighth into the ninth, as he began working Hardy's body again and had effective, sharp shots while again incorporating movement.

Seems closer than the 6-3/86-84 advantages for Sulaimann would suggest through nine.

Sulaimann added perimeter movement to his approach in the fourth and was able to blunt the more straightforward Hardy's charges with precise single shots. A long right hand and a follow-up left provided a moment for the challenger in the final 30 seconds.

Hardy closed distance to begin the fifth and rattled Sulaimann again early with a long, straight right. The movement continued but Hardy was able to get more accomplished between stretches of travel as Sulaimann's moments became fewer and farther between.

"This is beginning to get very interesting," blow-by-blow man Adam Smith said.

A left-right from Hardy 30 seconds into the sixth was the best combination of the fight to that point and prompted a slightly more concerned look on Sulaimann's face. Left to contend with Hardy without significant movement, Sulaimann was having more difficulty.

Still, he began to flourish again late in the sixth and landed well to the body.

B/R's card has it 4-2 and 58-56 for Sulaimann through six rounds.

Not a punch was thrown for the first 20-plus seconds before Hardy, a right-hander, leapt into the fray to fire a one-two at Sulaimaan, a lanky southpaw. Sulaimaan was content to let Hardy lead early, but he began initiating in the round's back half to some effect.

Sulaimaan is faster and sharper, but Hardy did score with a short, jolting left amid a combination from the bigger man early in the second.

Sulaimann lashed Hardy to the body in the early half of the third, prompting blow-by-blow man to suggest he looked "spiteful" and analyst Darren Barker to label it "classy."

It's not a beatdown by any measure, but B/R's card has Sulaimann up 3-0 in rounds and 30-27 on points.

Super featherweight Sonny Hardy is first to the ring for the main show's first fight, in which he'll meet Ibraheem Sulaimaan in a scheduled 10-rounder.

Billed as the "Spider," Sulaimaan is 11-0 with five KOs and holds a domestic title in the weight class. He went 10 rounds to beat Ibrahim Nadim in his last bout in June.

Hardy is 12-0 with five KOs and is coming off a seventh-round finish of Lee Gormley in June.