Mark Chamberlain Wipes Out Joshua Wahab In 1st Round; Moses Itauma Continues KO Streak
Mark Chamberlain continues to capitalize on the golden opportunities afforded his career.
The unbeaten British lightweight made quick work of Joshua Wahab, whom he stopped inside of one round. Wahab was floored twice, the latter which produced an immediate stoppage at 2:42 of the opening round.
“It was a bit of a shock to me,” the ever-modest Chamberlain told DAZN’s Chris Mannix. “It was the first left hand I threw an he was like, out on his feet. The second one that caught him just blew him out the way.”
The bout served as part of an eight-fight DAZN/ESPN+/PPV.com Pay-Per-View event from Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Chamberlain (16-0, 12 knockouts) has emerged as a favorite of Turki Alalshikh, the primary backer behind the stacked shows in Saudi Arabai. Saturday marked the second appearance in KSA in just nine weeks for the unbeaten 25-year-old southpaw.
Wahab (23-2, 16 KOs) hoped to land the type of right hand that would earn his opponent’s respect. The Nigerian export—based out of Accra, Ghana—was brought in to test Chamberlain, similarly to how went 12 competitive rounds with Liam Dillon in his lone other career defeat.
A long left hand by Chamberlain changed all that in an instant. Wahab hit the deck hard and was still wobbly as he made it to his feet.
Roughly 30 seconds remained in the round once action resumed. Chamberlain made a point to close the show in a hurry. The 25-year-old southpaw drove Wahab to the ropes and slammed home another left hand.
Wahab was out on his feet as he absorbed three more power shots along the ropes. He slumped to the canvas as referee Lee Every raced in to stop the contest.
Chamberlain, The Ring’s No. 10-rated lightweight, has now stopped his past six opponents. This win came nine weeks after Chamberlain blasted out Gavin Gwynne in the fourth round in this very arena. More so than was the case on March 8, this one caught everyone’s attention.
“That was fifteen out of ten,” Hall of Fame promoter Frank Warren said of his rising contender.
Also on the show, Moses Itauma continued his own knockout streak with a 2nd round blitzing of Ilja Mezencev (25-4, 21 KOs). The 19-year-old British heavyweight from Kent landed a right hook to put Mezencev down and out at 0:50 of round two.
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for The Ring and vice president of the Boxing Writers Association of America.
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