Troy Williamson is the new British, Commonwealth and European super middleweight champion.

The 34-year-old underdog dropped Callum Simpson four times and silenced his army of fans with a tremendous 10th-round stoppage victory Saturday night at First Direct Arena in Leeds, England.

Simpson (18-1, 13 KOs) has developed into a major draw in his hometown of Barnsley, but with the cold Yorkshire winter ruling out a return to the town’s football stadium until next year, he made the 40-minute trip to headline in Leeds. Around 8,000 fans followed him for a fight that was broadcast live on BBC 3.

Simpson had to drag himself up from two early knockdowns before stopping undefeated Italian puncher, Ivan Zucco, on June 7 to win the European title. Williamson tried to test his chin early with his overhand right time and time again in the early stages.

Despite being the bigger, taller man, Simpson looked happier when the two came together. When they boxed at range, Simpson pawed with his jab and Williamson took every opportunity to fire that dangerous right hand over the top of it.

Williamson (22-4-1, 16 KOs) has always been a tough, rugged fighter, but he spent the vast majority of his career boiling himself down to junior middleweight. He has belatedly decided to fight where his body feels most comfortable and earned his shot by stopping the highly rated Mark Dickinson in September.

He didn’t seem too concerned during some hard, physical exchanges in the third round and landed his share of short punches inside. Simpson was starting to spend more and more time at close quarters.

Simpson had no answer for Wiilliamson’s right hand, though he did seem to trouble the Darlington man with a flurry to the body in the fifth.

Realising that something needed to changed, Simpson tried to take some of the heat out of the fight during the middle rounds. He continually shook out his arms and — sensing that their hero was having trouble — his fanatical crowd fell silent.

Williamson momentarily hurt Simpson with a pair of right hands in the eighth and despite being the man who had moved up in weight, he seemed able to walk into distance at will.

As the fight entered the final quarter, Williamson looked to be on the verge of a major upset. Rather than coasting to the end, he went for the finish.

He dropped Simpson heavily in the 10th with a reverse one-two. Simpson clambered to his feet, but the fight was over. He was battered around the ring as his mouthpiece lay on the canvas and sank to the floor again.

Incredibly, the fight was allowed to continue. Simpson absorbed shot after shot, as referee Lee Every watched, and he was dropped twice more before the fight was finally stopped.

It was a career best performance from Williamson, who looked like a fighter reborn at his new weight.

Elliot Whale rounded out the undercard by stopping Ashlee Eales in the seventh round of a one-sided welterweight fight.

The undefeated 28-year-old from Kent had spent weeks preparing for an intriguing fight with Adrien Broner conquerer Blair Cobbs, but the American’s late withdrawal due to illness meant that he had to make do with a 10-round fight against fired-up late substitute.

Eales (11-2, 3 KOs) had been due to box over six rounds on the undercard and leapt at the chance to replace Cobbs. The southpaw came out firing and scored with a couple of looping left hands, but Whale (13-0, 8 KOs) calmly bided his time and began to impose himself on the fight.

He started the third by knocking Eales’ head back with a hard left hand and ended it by dropping him with a hard right hook to the body. Rather than getting involved in any exchanges with the loose, unorthodox Eales, Whale kept his shape and pressed forward.

Eales couldn’t handle Whale’s right hand to the body and sank to the canvas twice in the sixth. He was under fire again in the seventh, when his corner wisely decided to throw in the towel.

Sam Hickey got the televised portion of the show underway with a one-sided, six-round decision victory over Slovenia’s Aljaz Venko.

The talented Scottish middleweight hasn’t boxed regularly enough since he turned professional 14 months ago. But with Boxxer in need of talented fighters to fill, the 2022 Commonwealth Games gold medalist should be given plenty of opportunities to show what he is capable of.

He started by outclassing Venko. Hickey (4-0, 1 KO) towered over the Slovenian and dropped him with a lead right hook in the opening round.

Rather than forcing the action and trying to blast out Venko (7-8-1, 3 KOs), Hickey took his time and ran through his repertoire of skills. He upped the tempo in the fourth and scored another knockdown with his right hand before getting back to his boxing.

There was the feeling that Hickey could have gone through the gears and finished the fight at any moment, but he clearly felt the need to get rounds under his belt.

He was awarded a 60-53 victory.

Welterweight: Jake Jon Cleary (5-0) def. Ellis Ward (5-1, 1 KO) by six-round decision.

Super middleweight: Tom Rafferty (16-0, 6 KOs) def. Lewis Howells (3-5) by fourth-round TKO.

Middleweight: Cory Sagar (5-0) def. Joe Hardy (5-42-1) by four-round decision.

Cruiserweight: Brad Casey (3-0, 1 KO) def. Dylan Courtney (2-27-2, 1KO) by four-round decision.

Cruiserweight: Mick Learmonth (14-0, 6 KOs) def. Harry Matthews (18-104-7, 2 KOs) by four-round decision.

Lightweight: Levi Giles (17-2-1, 4 KOs) def. Jahfieus Faure (4-23-2) by four-round decision.