In an enthralling encounter at Rotherham’s Magna Centre, the pair put on an exciting show for the fans, with Sunderland-based Essomba ultimately proving too big and strong for Waleed, stopping the 22-year-old in the penultimate round.
Din left everything in the ring, and had his successes, but was over in the fourth round and down three times in the eleventh before the towel came in and referee Steve Gray stopped the action at 1:30.
Essomba will likely defend his newly acquired title before potentially moving onto the world scene, while Din’s future looks certain to be below flyweight.
“The future for Waleed is to campaign at a lower weight,” explained Hobson. “I’d always said that we’d probably need to move him down. Credit to Waleed and Thomas, I’ve seen a lot worse title fights. Waleed fought like a lion but there was a weight and strength issue, that’s what beat him in the end. He was exhausted, it was an onslaught and eventually, it doesn’t matter how well conditioned you are, that’s going to have an effect.
“He was exhausted and I asked for the towel to be thrown in. He was spent and didn’t need to take any more shots. On the day I think Thomas was almost a stone heavier, and that’s a massive difference. Take nothing away from Thomas though, he’s a quality kid and if I can I’ll help Phil Jeffries to get him on the world scene.
“Waleed lives to fight another day, and I’m looking for him to campaign at light-fly or even straw weight, but we’d have to go on the international scene to do that. There’s no domestic scene at those weights. Waleed has shown a lot of qualities in defeat. He’s shown he can take a shot, has the heart of a lion, and he can do the rounds. He has all the ability, and it was a great fight. I’m still very optimistic about Waleed because he’s shown he’s got the full package.”
