Tokyo 2020 Olympic medalist and fast-moving professional prospect Karriss Artingstall gave a confident, intelligent performance to move to 3-0 as a professional.
She dominated a talented opponent in Linzi Buczynski on the Lawrence Okolie bill in Manchester.
Artingstall was happy to stand in her opponent’s range, making her miss and making her pay. She was even willing to take a few shots to give a few back, backing her boxing intelligence and punch power to be able to do more damage than she would take.
Artingstall looks supremely confident as a professional. She gained invaluable experience in this fight. She looks set to climb through the ranks quickly in the fast-moving world of women’s boxing.
No one has been able to slow her down in her professional career so far.
Karriss Artingstall said to Sky Sports after the fight: “I had a great camp. I think I could have easily done a few more rounds.
“My opponent gave me a lot to think about, I didn’t have it all my own way, so it’s a good bout to have under my belt for the future.”
Callum Simpson def. Celso Neves – KO Rd 3 (1:36)
In further undercard results, Barnsley’s new superstar, Callum Simpson, made a sensational Sky Sports debut with a cold-blooded knockout in the third round.
Simpson came close to a stoppage victory in the first two minutes of the fight, sending Celso Neves to the canvas with a powerful right hand.
Neves was able to beat the referee’s count and boxed smartly to survive the rest of the first two rounds.
Simpson threw an inch-perfect right hook, just a fraction of a second faster than Neves threw an identical one, around half way through the third round that clattered into Neves’s jaw and collapsed him onto the floor of the ring, with the referee deeming him unable to continue despite stumbling to his feet before the count of 10.
Callum Simpson showed he deserves the hype surrounding him on his BOXXER debut, earning the ninth knockout of his undefeated 11 fight career, and catching a lot of eyes who may have never seen him fight before tonight, but will make sure never to miss any of his fights from now on.
Callum Simpson said to Sky Sports after the fight: “I’ve been working towards this since I was nine, since my dad brought me into a boxing gym at age nine. I wanted the stoppage in the first round, but I’m happy to have got it. I want to be fighting for titles by the end of the year.”
Ben Shalom, BOXXER CEO & Founder, said: “We’ve been quietly excited about this man for a long time. He’s the sleeping giant of British boxing. He’s already operating at a very high level and now we want to go all the way with him.”
Rhys Edwards def. Brian Phillips – PTS (60-55)
Rhys Edwards took a huge step towards following in the footsteps of his World Champion stablemate Joe Cordina by handily winning an evenly-matched fight against Brian Phillips that many thought could be a serious challenge for the Welshman.
Edwards managed the range of the fight with veteran-like skill, making sure that Phillips’s high output was totally unable to do any damage to him, while Edwards could move into range, land powerful shots, and move back out again.
Edwards is now 14-0 as a professional, and gained a huge amount of fight-experience from these six rounds. He looks set for massive fights from now on in his career, and to keep moving up to the top of the boxing world.
Aaron McKenna def. Jordan Grant – PTS (60-54)
Ireland’s impressive 23-year-old prospect at 147lbs, Aaron McKenna, moved to 16-0 as a professional in dazzling fashion, smashing a tough opponent in Jordan Grant in a fight where McKenna came within moments of a stoppage on multiple occasions.
Grant showed tremendous grit to see the final bell under a constant barrage from McKenna, who didn’t drop from his rapid pace of output for the whole six rounds of the fight.
Grant even found a few opportunities to fire back while facing McKenna’s whirlwind, occasionally landing shots that kept McKenna on his toes, but the fight’s overall direction is shown by McKenna’s perfect showing on the referee’s scorecard.
Shakiel Thompson def. Robert Talarek – PTS (59-54)
Sheffield’s future superstar ‘Dr Steel’ Shakiel Thompson battered a 47-fight-veteran in Robert Talarek from pillar to post for six rounds in the 10th victory of his undefeated career.
Somehow Talarek refused to be stopped despite the 18 minutes of punishment, with Thompson in the sixth round especially landing a number of brutal straight right hands that would have knocked out almost any other opponent.
Thompson’s dominance was unaffected by a point being taken away from him in the final round, taking a clean sweep on the card otherwise.
Harvey Lambert def. Casey Brown – PTS (40-37)
Exciting 6’3” Super Welterweight prospect Harvey Lambert cruised to another victory in only the second fight of his professional career, consistently landing the better punches and doing the better work against a vastly more experienced opponent in Casey Brown.
Lambert looked calm and collected across the four rounds of the fight, failing to lose a single one of them on the referee’s scorecard.
