BP PULSE LIVE, BIRMINGHAM -- A 15-strong female choir from nearby Sheffield harmonised Ben Whittaker's latest ringwalk for this, his shot at redemption. He'd been ridiculed, criticised and questioned plenty in the six months prior to a Liam Cameron rematch no-one expected. The result was precisely what everyone assumed would transpire in Riyadh, a rapid but ruthless night's work.

The full seven-fight bill was televised on Sky Sports in the UK and TrillerTV+ in the US, with the first three prelims shown across Sky Sports Boxing and YouTube.

"They thought I was dead," rang out around the 15,655-seater indoor arena, several hundreds on their feet - local heavyweights Frazer Clarke and Solomon Dacres among them - as the BOXXER's not-so-subtle star man sought to make amends in surgical style. Referee Howard Foster waved it off at 1:53 of the second stanza.

Armed with a new team, headed by highly-rated trainer Andy Lee, and their Jesus Is King adorned jackets, the stage was set. Liam Cameron (23-7-1, 10 KOs) had his high guard up and you could hear armchair coaches shouting instructions ringside.

Whittaker (9-0-1, 6 KOs) stalked Cameron during the early stages of a predictably tense opener, the favourite emboldened to showboat briefly after Cameron winged with bad intentions but missed the target and was met with ropes on the far side.

Cameron connected on a few punches which grabbed the crowd's attention, and should've alerted Whittaker too as he jabbed to head and later body in the second stanza, whipping partially blocked punches but those would still have an effect.

The power purposeful, Whittaker's movement methodical and while questions will linger over whether it was an early stoppage - Cameron's manager Lee Eaton climbed on the canvas to stress as much - the 34-year-old was stung by a hard right.

It wasn't immediately apparent but the Cannonball's legs were wobbling, his body language negative and after absorbing an onslaught of unanswered punches against the ropes, the referee had seen enough to stop it.

"We knew I would do that, it was the best camp of my life, a lot of people washed their hands of me after the last fight but Andy came out and said join me in Ireland, you'll see," Whittaker told Sky's Andy Scott post-fight.

Whittaker later said the pair shared an embrace, Cameron declaring no-one had ever hit him like that, and again hinting their controversial draw was a necessary evil.

"What happened in Saudi needed to happen, it made me work harder. I'm still swaggy and flashy, you saw the ringwalk, but very disciplined in there... lock in and you saw the real Ben Whittaker."

His promoter, BOXXER chief Ben Shalom, spoke of his pride for a 27-year-old whose stock will rise again after an early evening at the office. "The future is so bright, he's the biggest star in British boxing."

As far as who's next? Whittaker just wants to indulge for a while and eat his favourite unhealthy foods again after adhering to a strict diet plan. "I've been living the life, but need some food in my belly and we'll go again, none of that broccoli rubbish!"

Light-heavyweight: Ben Whittaker TKO2 (1:53) Liam Cameron

Junior-middleweight: Sam Eggington TDU8 (87-85, 90-83, 87-85) Lee Cutler

Heavyweight: Frazer Clarke KO1 (1:52) Ebenezer Tetteh

Middleweight: Tyler Denny PTS10 (97-92) Elvis Ahorgah

Welterweight: Elliott Whale PTS8 (79-74) Lucas Ballingall

Middleweight: Troy Coleman TKO7 (1:21) Bradley Goldsmith

Super-middleweight: Mark Jeffers KO2 (0:40) Ricardo Lara