Callum Simpson TKO2 Steed Woodall ... Callum Simpson halted Steed Woodall to defend his British and Commonwealth super middleweight titles on an emotional night in Sheffield. Simpson was boxing for the first time since the death of his sister, who passed away tragically at the age of 19. The name of Lily-Rae Simpson was emblazoned on his shorts and robe when he arrived to make his entrance at the Canon Medical Arena. At the first bell Woodall was unfazed by the boos that welcomed him and he tagged Simpson with arching right crosses in the first round, the kind of sharp punching that showed how dangerous he could be.

 

In round two, Simpson trapped Woodall on the ropes and a combination saw him batter the challenger to the canvas. He mingled right uppercuts into a sequence of blows, a finishing left hook-right hook blast putting the Birmingham man over. Simpson continued to tear into Woodall, although the challenger was bravely looking to fight back. He wanted to continue but the referee intervened to end it at 1:56 of the second round.

 

The stoppage was criticized as being premature. Sky Sports' expert Matthew Macklin considered it too soon to stop the fight. "He wasn't out on his feet," Macklin said. Even if he was going to go on and stop him, that wasn't the right time to stop it. I think Callum Simpson was going to go on and win the fight, probably by stoppage, but it shouldn't have been stopped when it was."

 

The result, of course, stands and now Simpson will want another stadium fight.