Anthony Yarde dropped Ralfs Vilcans in their first round but was dragged into an unexpected battle as he won a points decision.
Yarde dropped Vilcans with the first punch he threw. Both came out to the centre of the ring, with Yarde feinting his left as he looked for position.
He then uncorked a booming right cross that dropped Vilcans to the canvas.
The Latvian remained understandably cagey for the rest of the round, while Yarde continued to study him. He banged his jab in to jolt Vilcans’ head back in the second round.
An arching right caught Vilcans high on the head too and he had to retreat beneath it. Yarde continued to tenderise his prey, jabbing the body.
Vilcans dug in though and cracked crosses of his own through before the end of the session.
That heartened Vilcans, who moved round Yarde jabbing in the third. His confidence continued to grow as he put together combinations and found a path for this uppercut.
Yarde continued to march forward, a right hook cracking into the body and a meaty left hook landing to the head. But Vilcans returned fire, his right shooting down to catch Yarde flush.
Yarde simply beckoned him in and by the end of the fifth round a hammering right uppercut shook Vilcans.
Big shots from Yarde continued to blast through. A right over the top hit in, then a booming left hook set up another cross.
But even when listing back on his heels Vilcans returned fire as best he could.
By the eighth round Vilcans had warmed to his task. Even as Yarde came on the Latvian wielded a right uppercut with gusto, catching Yarde cleanly with that shot before turning in a right hook.
Vilcans peppered the Londoner with shots as he fought back. But in the 10th and last round Yarde found some booming strikes. With his back on the ropes, he clipped Vilcans with a left hook and similarly backed up to land his right hook.
He slugged in the cross and though he marked Vilcans up, the Latvian wouldn’t be shifted.
Referee Victor Loughlin made Yarde a 98-92 winner, but the bout was closer and tougher than that scoreline suggests.
“This is a last-minute opponent. Maybe mentally I got a bit complacent here, but I would have to turn up for Buatsi. It’s not just Joshua Buatsi, there’s Dan Azeez, Craig Richards, so many names in this British scene,” Yarde said afterwards.
“I’ve fought twice at world level. Beterbiev… before Bivol I gave him his hardest fight. There’s fights out there, but Josh Buatsi is one of the fights I want personally. There’s names.”
Take the seeds impressed as he handed Michael McKinson a unanimous decision defeat, joining Vergil Ortiz as the only two men to have beaten the Portsmouth southpaw.
South Africa’s Mbenge came into this bout viewed as the puncher. But it was McKinson who managed to shake him up in their first round.
A hard left hook struck Mbenge and McKinson followed up with a lancing right, putting together punches that left Mbenge wobbling on his feet.
But he regrouped and by the third round Mbenge was almost jogging forward in eagerness as he slung hooks into McKinson.
He was dragging the Briton out of his accustomed style of boxing and into a scrap. It was the type of fight that suited Mbenge, who slammed in punishing shots to the head and body of McKinson.
Grittly McKinson hung in there and by the ninth round he was pushing himself forward, heaving his own punches into the South African.
McKinson had a strong 10th round, doubling up his backhand left. He dashed his cross through up close, catching Mbenge heavily.
But to stifle any momentum McKinson had rebuilt, Mbenge kept his work rate high. He took a hurtful attack down to McKinson’s body, right hooks thumping off the Briton’s ribs.
McKinson tore back into him in the 12th and last round, but a huge left hook from Mbenge stood him up for a moment and the South African worked through to a finish.
He took it by unanimous decision, 117-111 for one of the judges and 116-112 for the other two.
Jeamie TKV won an eliminator for the English heavyweight title, eventually chopping down rival Londoner Franklin Ignatius inside six rounds.
Ignatius tried to find room to land heavy long shots, but TKV swarmed him, clubbing at his body and letting left hooks stab through.
He gradually mauled Ignatius as the round progressed. A clash of heads in the fifth round left Ignatius cut and to compound his problems the referee deducted a point.
He finally unravelled in the six round, with TKV pummelling his body, stunning him with a left hook to the head within the barrage.
Referee Victor Loughlin had seen enough and strode in to save Ignatius from further punishment, getting clipped by a punch for his troubles.
Francesca Hennessy won the most meaningful bout of her pro career so far against Ana Karla Vaz De Moraes, not just because a title belt, the WBA Intercontinental super-bantamweight strap, was up for grabs but because the previously unbeaten Brazilian came straight for Hennessy, lashing out with hard punches.
There were warning signs of the threat as Hennessy clipped Vaz De Moraes with a neat right cross in the first round, only for the Brazilian to walk right through it and look continually to maintain that pressure.
Hennessy at times had to absorb a heavy left hook and a solid right herself but she outboxed the Brazilian, lining up neat combinations and outmanoeuvring her opponent to take a 78-74 decision after eight rounds.
Top amateur Sam Hickey made his professional debut, delivering an assured performance to beat John Henry Mosquera, outpointing him 40-36 after four rounds.
Not many stop Mosquera, but the Scottish middleweight dominated the action, forcing the Colombian to tuck tightly behind his guard as he resolutely backpedalled.
Hickey slammed quality crosses and uppercuts through, throwing crisp, clean shots and didn’t look like relinquishing control for a moment.
Adam Azim fights Ohara Davies at the Copper Box Arena in London tonight live on Sky Sports+. Stream boxing and more with NOW
