BP PULSE LIVE, BIRMINGHAM -- Frazer Clarke's return was swift, needing less than a full round to flatten Ebenezer Tetteh six months removed from a damaging knockout defeat himself. Tyler Denny won well against Elvis Ahorgah prior, while there were contrasting undercard stoppage wins for Mark Jeffers and Troy Coleman preceding Elliott Whale's career-best points win over eight against Lucas Ballingall.

The full seven-fight bill, headlined by Ben Whittaker's light-heavyweight rematch with Liam Cameron, is being televised on Sky Sports in the UK and TrillerTV+ in the US, with the first three prelims shown across Sky Sports Boxing and YouTube.

British heavyweight title challenger Frazer Clarke (9-1-1, 7 KOs) needed just shy of two minutes and two heavy-handed sequences to dismiss Ebenezer Tetteh (23-3, 20 KOs) with precisely the exclamation mark stoppage he'd been hunting for, on his return after a hellacious defeat in Riyadh last October by Fabio Wardley.

Referee Kevin Parker waved it off with an official time of 1:52, though it could've easily been stopped a minute earlier when the 36-year-old Ghanaian was crumpled to the canvas by a heavy right hand.

Tetteh, who surprised many by taking longtime heavyweight contender Dillian Whyte seven gruelling rounds in Gibraltar last December, came out gung-ho against a motivated opponent in-front of home support and paid the ultimate price.

Clarke, who this week said he'd been visualising WBC interim world titleholder Agit Kabayel's sixth-round stoppage win over Zhilei Zhang and taking inspiration from sparring Joseph Parker in the build-up for his return, again stressed a desire to face the David Adeleye vs. Jeamie Tshikeva 2 winner for British honours next.

His promoter, Ben Shalom, echoed that desire in the post-fight interview and suggested Adeleye-TKV II could happen as soon as June with Clarke - who turns 34 in August - eager to stay active after an early night's work.

On his first appearance since a stunning second-round stoppage defeat by Hamzah Sheeraz last September, former English and EBU European middleweight titleholder Tyler Denny (20-3-3, 1 KO) boxed beautifully behind his jab and proved a worthy 97-92 winner over ten rounds against Elvis Ahorgah (13-4, 12 KOs).

The home favourite was repeatedly told to move his feet and box behind his jab early, though looked puzzled after eating a punch clean when referee Chris Dean told them to break.

Both were warned, Ahorgah landing two-punch combinations but being outworked by flurries. In the third, the Ghanaian briefly caught him with a right hand but grew overzealous after that successful sequence, showing leaky positioning and proving susceptible to counters, after which Denny connected on a four-punch combination in the final seconds of an assertive third.

Denny had the crowd stirring after landing clean with persistent work in the fourth, then Ahorgah landed a pair of stiff shots to the midsection as you could hear some fans urging Denny to go through the gears. Into the second-half they went, Denny's punch power not enough to deter the 24-year-old from marching forward, histrionics weren't far from full view as Ahorgah danced his way into striking range.

Denny clubbed him with a perfectly-timed counter right hook as the younger man charged forward, now off-balance and protesting his innocence, insisting it was a slip rather than a knockdown, the official ignored it anyway as the count began. Indulging him a taste of his own medicine, Denny played to the crowd with a shimmy and was clearly comfortable, being made to think about his attacks.

Ahorgah stumbled the Rowley man with digging shots up against the ropes midway through the penultimate stanza, Denny replying with some head-snapping shots and body work in the final moments.

"Stay switched on," Denny's corner pleaded with him as Ahorgah had some of his better moments - pantomime pandering aside - in the final frame, though there was only one winner and they shared a warm embrace afterwards.

Better body work, studious shot selection and footwork was key as Elliot Whale (12-0, 7 KOs) stayed perfect with a 79-74 points victory over the game Lucas Ballingall in the night's final non-televised action.

After a cagey first, they traded body punches in the second stanza but by the third, Whale was clearly doing more and scoring all the time with his work. Faster to the punch and thriving during their inside exchanges, Portsmouth's Ballingall (18-3, 5 KOs) was content to make it rough but the 27-year-old wasn't surrendering ground.

A wry smile was etched across the unbeaten contender's face after being caught clean with a good right hand early in the fifth, though his subtle ringcraft skills were on display in the final half-minute of said round as he swiveled and turned the tide with flurries in a sequence.

"And again, come on Elliot," was the persistent shout from Whale's corner during a sixth where he again relished their exchanges in close quarters, while the Kent southpaw was being urged to put his stamp on a competitive seventh which was stop-start at times but didn't prevent him from teeing off with open space to exploit.

The eighth was admittedly messier, but Whale knew he'd done more than enough to emerge a comfortable winner from the toughest test of his six-year pro career to date as referee Kevin Parker scored it 79-74.

Troy Coleman (14-3-1, 6 KOs) absorbed Bradley Goldsmith's best in a frenetic sixth round, floored him at the bell and seized that momentum during a hectic first defence of his Midlands Area middleweight title.

Coleman, who edged past the previously-unbeaten Tom Cowling to win a then-vacant strap last September, added another perfect record to his collection but not before absorbing Goldsmith's best.

The Coventry resident (12-1, 8 KOs) stood disconsolate in his corner after referee Chris Dean waved it off, knowing he had the chance to recreate that very scene himself a round earlier. Facing only his third opponent with a winning record in what was his first ten-round contest, the difference in their experience showed.

Coleman's body attacks worked well early as his team celebrated in their corner, though Goldsmith had increased success behind the jab as time wore on and there was more purpose to his movement to boot.

Coleman seemed a step slow to block or attack in their exchanges, Goldsmith's flurries were scoring shots but not deterring the defending titleholder from holding his ground. Both landed stiff shots in the pocket to end a frenetic fourth, Coleman's second wind came in the fifth while the challenger countered well off the back foot.

They took turns trading big shots early in the sixth, Coleman first before Goldsmith swarmed him with volume as the crowd noise swelled in anticipation. Rather than take half-a-step back and punish Coleman properly, he unloaded and was swinging wildly to expend energy aplenty.

Coleman sensed his tank emptying and floored him with an uppercut at the bell, the challenger needing to be dragged to his stool. Coleman's gumshield flying out for a second time wasn't enough of a reprieve early in the seventh, as the Staffordshire man stood tall after a hard-earned victory.

Unbeaten super-middleweight contender Mark Jeffers (20-0, 7 KOs) produced a third consecutive stoppage for only the second time as a professional to open the evening's action with a second-round finish against Ricardo Lara.

The 33-year-old Mexican (24-14-2, 12 KOs) opposite him couldn't handle the body-head combinations while uppercuts formed part of the 27-year-old's arsenal too.

The latter shot dropped the 12-year veteran, who was fortunate to hear the bell signalling the end of a bruising first stanza and returning to his feet.

It wasn't long before he was doubled over in agony on the canvas again, this time unable to beat the referee's count as it was waved off, 40 seconds into the second.

Main card

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

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

Prelims

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