“The Wire” dropped the former soldier, known as “Poochi”, in the third round with a long right hook to secure a 40-35 points victory.
It was the unbeaten middleweight’s second fight under the tutelage of world title contender Matthew Hatton.
The ex-army man opposing Wheatley, who served in the notorious Helmand Province in Afghanistan 2011, hasn’t been stopped now in his last 22 fights, since he met with Frank Warren prospect Lerrone Richards (7-0) in July 2017, so the 29-year-old prospect was pleased with the knockdown he scored in the penultimate round.
“Yeah, was happy with that, I know he hasn’t been stopped for a while,” Nathan said. “Everyone was saying to me afterwards about how good it was.”
The experienced “Poochi”, a 77-fight veteran, has ruined the record of five unbeaten fighters in the past and came close to claiming the Challenge belt on two occasions recently against Charlie Shane in 2017 and Paul Hilz in 2016, both times missing out by just two points from the away corner.
“I knew he was a tough opponent and not been stopped in a while,” Wheatley praised. “I did what we planned to do in the gym, been working on different shots with Matt, I felt powerful and landed some solid shots.”
The former Bridgefoot ABC student was only in action on March 31 when he defeated Casey Blair (4-38) at the Preston Guild Hall on the undercard of Liam Conroy’s second successful English light-heavyweight title defence to challenger Miles Shinkwin, live on Box Nation TV.
That Easter Saturday bout was his first appearance in over a year after an extended absence recovering from a shoulder injury, initially damaged during a sparring session back in 2015.
Now fully fit, the rejuvenated boxer plans to stay active with his next fight – his first six-rounder – already scheduled for July 27, which will serve as his third outing in just 17 weeks.
