Ben Whittaker marked his Matchroom debut with one of the Knockouts of the Year against Benjamin Gavazi.

After deciding to leave Boxxer to seek pastures new, the 28-year-old made quick work of his first outing since April, wrapping things up in just 135 seconds.

And when the finish came against the once-beaten German, it was the sort of showreel knockout which will go viral in the coming days.

Whittaker said: “When you walk out pretty like that, you’ve got to back it up and that’s what I did.

“I didn’t feel pressure to make a statement. Andy Lee said that what i do in sparring is enough, go out there and do that. Damn I looked good.”

Gavazi had played his part in the build-up, insisting that Whittaker is ‘nothing special’. Of his opponent, the West Bromwich man said: “He was a game kid, I could see it in his eyes. He said something in the press conference that let me know he had let it slip. He said he had nothing to lose but I’m someone who has everything to lose.

“He’d had 20 fights, only lost one, he came to change his life but I showed what I’m all about.”

A fortnight after 50 Cent walked Chris Eubank Jr. to the ring in Tottenham, grime legend Dizzee Rascal rapped as Whittaker made his way to the ring at Birmingham’s National Exhibition Centre.

After spending the first 10 fights of his career with Boxxer, this was his first fight since signing a long-term promotional contract with Matchroom and he was given top billing for this clash with Germany’s Gavazi, who has won the 19 fights since he lost on his debut back in November 2018.

But after a little over two minutes, Gavazi would taste defeat for only the second time in his career and the first in seven years.

It was not even as if Whittaker looked in a hurry to make an impression, he was simply too good, too fast and too powerful for his opponent as soon as he decided to put his punches together.

He forced the first knockdown with just over a minute of the fight gone and, although Gavazi managed to get up, the writing was already on the wall.

The visitor looked like a man who had simply never felt punches like these before, and he was wiped out in chilling fashion moments later. After Gavazi had attempted to hold, Whittaker landed a right hand to the body, wriggled free and closed the show in emphatic fashion with a left hook, right hand combination. The official time of the stoppage was 2:15 of round one.

His new promoter Eddie Hearn said: “All I can say is wow. Sometimes people come into an arena and light up the place but what matters is what happens in the ring.

“He has so much ability to win world championships for the midlands and Great Britain. This is a good man with a good heart who works every day to be the best he can be.”

Hearn told The Ring this week that Whittaker (10-0-1, 7 KOs) is between three and five fights away from challenging for the world title.

He added: “I believe we will go through all those guys: Bivol, Beterbiev and Benavidez. This guy is ‘wow’ everyone in this country needs to get behind this guy.

“We are going to take him around the world. America is crying out for Ben Whittaker. This guy has got it all.”

In the chief support, Tom Cowling climbed off the canvas to claim the vacant Midlands Area middleweight title via split decision against the previously undefeated Aaron Bowen.

With a minute gone in the fifth, a hard right hand downed Cowling but he managed to climb to his feet and beat the count.

He did well to navigate the remainder of the round as Bowen went in search of a stoppage, fighting fire with fire and refusing to crumble.

And Cowling was rewarded handsomely by the judges with two of them scoring him a 95-94 winner and the other 96-93 to hand him the belt after this mini classic.