By Shaun Brown

Dillian Whyte 16-0 (12 KOs) took care of his side of business before his proposed Dec 12 heavyweight grudge match with Anthony Joshua after taking care of 40-year-old American veteran Brian Minto 41-10 (26 KOs) inside three rounds Saturday evening at O2 Arena in London, England.
 
Unlike Whyte’s last opponent, Irineu Beato Costa Junior, Minto came for a fight and proved this by catching Whyte occasionally with shots that looked camera worthy but barely put a dent in the Brit.
 
Giving away over 30lbs in weight and five inches in height, Minto’s attributes were too little as the more thudding work from Whyte took its toll at the end of round one after he ate a big right hand which dropped the former world cruiserweight title challenger.
 
The pattern continued throughout the second, and as the third began a cuffing left from Whyte saw Minto take a knee and not beat the count with Whyte’s ragged punishment proving too much.
 
In the post-fight interview Whyte, whose reward was the WBC International Silver Heavyweight title, revealed: “I injured my shoulder in training. I went a bit right hand crazy (tonight) but I got the job done. If I had one arm and one leg I’ll show up in December (for Joshua). I don’t want to keep fighting guys with losing records. I’m here to win the British title and move on.”

HIBBERT GETS HIS REVENGE
If their fight in May was thrilling and dramatic, tonight’s encounter between Dave Ryan 17-9 (4 KOs) and John Wayne Hibbert 16-3 (10 KOs) was tentative but with a twist at the end.
 
Ryan and Hibbert locked horns on May 30 in what was a British fight of the year contender in a see-saw contest which Ryan emerge triumphant from. Ryan never looked in trouble in this their third fight against one another (which began in March 2013) and now sees Hibbert get on the scoreboard and trail just 2-1 thanks to the bizarre ending.
 
It was looking like a comfortable night’s work for Ryan with the Derby fighter dictating terms from the beginning thanks to his more confident and powerful shots never being matched by the cautiousness of Hibbert.

The whole fight was turned around in the 10th round. With Hibbert needing a knockout, Ryan complained of a back or hip problem after a shot which may or may not have landed thus forcing Ryan to take a knee. Hibbert showed no mercy and went for the throat sensing his foe’s problems and ended matters with a thudding right hand which saw referee Ian John-Lewis wave the contest off with Ryan staggered and in obvious spinal pain.
 
The unexpected outcome sees Hibbert become Commonwealth and WBC International light welterweight champion. The new champion himself had to take a count in the sixth round after what looked like a fight ending left hand seemed to end matters. But to Hibbert’s credit, his determination saw him rise from defeat.
 
“He ain’t having a rematch,” said Hibbert afterwards. “He can have the 2-1 He can do one!” he laughed. “No, if it makes sense we’ll do it again.”

REMAINING UNDERCARD 

The back foot boxing and better movement of Charlie Edwards 5-0 (2 KOs) gave the 22-year-old his first belt on the domestic ladder after winning the English flyweight title against Louis Norman 10-1-1 (2 KOs).

After 10 rounds of boxing the three judges gave the three wide scorecards of 100-90, 99-91, 99-92 to the challenger who was making only his fifth professional appearance.
 
As so often is the case when faced with inexperience, the more seasoned fighter (Norman, despite being one year younger) looked as though he was hoping that Edwards, who hadn’t been past six rounds before tonight, would fade down the stretch. Truth be told, after rounds of inaccurate punches, the ninth and tenth sessions looked to be the most accurate rounds for Edwards.
 
Norman, making the second defence of his title, looked to walk his man down at times but spent too long chasing Edwards and being made to miss more often than not. Both men, who switched to southpaw at times, may have missed as many as they landed but it was Edwards who threw the more eye catching shots.
 
Afterwards the new champion said: “I thought he (Norman) suited my style. I’ve got a long way to go in the professional game. I’m not a three-round fighter, I can fight over 10 or even 12 rounds.”
 
Earlier in the evening Cassius Connnor 13-9-2 (1 KO) won Carshalton bragging rights with a 97-94, 10-round decision win against Ricky Boylan 13-2 (4 KOs) at light welterweight. There was also a win for Tommy Martin who overcame Michael Devine with a 10th round stoppage to claim the vacant WBA Inter-Continental light welterweight belt. Martin now improves to 13-0 (5 KOs).

Debutants Jake Ball (light heavyweight) and Ted Cheeseman (welterweight) both had successful first days at the office with stoppage victories in the first and second rounds of their contests against Haidir Sadiq and Gabor Ambrus respectively.

Lightweight prospect Ohara Davies moved to 8-0 (6 KOs) after despatching of Dame Seck with 20 seconds remaining of the third round in their bout. The night’s proceedings were opened up by Lucien Reid (super bantamweight) who gained a 40-37 points win over Samuel Escobar to improve to 2-0 (1 KO).