Natasha Jonas became a world champion at the third attempt as she dropped Chris Namus twice on the way to a second-round stoppage to win the vacant WBO super welterweight title.
It had been a huge step up in weight for Jonas, having drawn with Terri Harper at super-featherweight and lost to Katie Taylor at lightweight, but the Uruguayan, who had come in at short notice, proved quite easy to hit.
For the first 90 seconds nothing really happened. Jonas circled around, buzzing Namus with small punches, while Namus seemed to try to find her range.
But with 20 seconds left in the round, Jonas landed a big left over the top, following it with a clubbing right hook that sent her down heavily. She made it to her feet looking unsteady and, while she saw out the round, the end was nigh.
Jonas went out in the second to finish the job, while Namus looked happy to trade. Jonas got keot throwing until a left hand forced Namus back as she went staggering to the floor.
She was up quickly and when her corner waved the towel, she pleaded with them to let him on. Referee Howard Foster waved it off, however, at 0:28 of the round.
Ringside, commentating for Sky, was Hannah Rankin, the WBA super welterweight champion, and a unification fight between the pair would seem easy to make.
Ron Lewis is a senior writer for BoxingScene. He was Boxing Correspondent for The Times, where he worked from 2001-2019 - covering four Olympic Games and numerous world title fights across the globe. He has written about boxing for a wide variety of publications worldwide since the 1980s.
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