Kurt Wiggins, 2023 ABA champion, made his professional debut and kicked off the Fight Academy promotion at Liverpool’s Olympia, a historic venue held dearly within boxing.
The were on a card headlined by the British, Commonwealth and European flyweight title fight between the unbeaten Commonwealth and European champion Conor Butler (11-0-1, 1KO) and former world title challenger and current British champion Jay Harris (20-3, 11KOs).
Bantamweight Wiggins faced Nabil Ahmed (2-28-2) over four rounds and began his life as a professional with a comfortable victory on points.
Liverpudlian Wiggins opened the fight behind the jab, controlling the first round before varying his work in the second with a greater emphasis on working the body. A right hook to the body, with Ahmed on the ropes in the final minute, made the away fighter visibly wince but he stayed on his feet to survive the session and Wiggins refused to fall into the trap of smothering his shots to force a stoppage.
A controlled and disciplined third round was followed by an attacking fourth, with Wiggins searching for a debut stoppage win. Wiggins managed to catch Ahmed several times with long right hooks as Ahmed was outworked and Ahmed was happy to see out the final bell.
Referee Mark Lyson scored the bout 40-36 in favor of 27-year-old Wiggins.
Middleweight Hakeem Palmer (4-1, 2 KOs) maintained his undefeated record with a comprehensive and mature showing against Artjom Spatar (4-5, 1 KO), claiming a points win.
Palmer opened the six-round middleweight contest against his Estonian counterpart using his noticeable size and reach advantages, keeping Spatar at bay, who occasionally walked onto Palmer’s jab.
Spatar showed more ambition in the second and landed on the inside, but Palmer utilized his jab, and established his right hand.
Palmer scored with a huge right uppercut in the third, which stopped Spatar from coming forward, and was followed in the fourth by persistent attempts by Palmer to target the body.
Palmer stalked Spatar in the fifth, with the Estonian tiring due to the constant attacks to the body and he became flustered from the pressure.
Palmer showed maturity in the sixth and final round by negating danger and returning to boxing behind his jab as Spatar struggled to land anything on the 6ft 4in Liverpudlian.
Scoring referee Jamie Kirkpatrick marked every round of the six in favor of Palmer with a scorecard of 60-54.
Joe McGrail (8-0, 4 KOs) made light work of Jules Phillips (2-29) with a stoppage after 1:12 of the opening round of a scheduled six. A right hook to the body in the opening 45 seconds from McGrail forced Phillips to take a knee following a fast-paced start. Rising to his feet, the writing was on the wall for Phillips as McGrail pinned him on the ropes and teed off, forcing referee Mark Lyson to wave off the contest.
Jack Turner (4-0, 4 KOs) lived up to his heavy pre-fight billing and continued his first-round knockout streak with two knockdowns inside the opening minute to defeat Selemani Bangaiza (19-9, 9 KOs) in the chief support of a scheduled six.
Turner dropped the Tanzanian in the opening 30 seconds with a right hand, which caught the visiting fighter around the back of the head, dropping Bangaiza heavily. However, the reprieve saw Turner return on the front foot and he landed straight through the guard, dropping Bangazia even more dramatically.
Rising to his feet again, Bangaiza felt the wrath of the Joe McNally-trained Turner, who landed a huge right hook which left the Tanzanian crumpled and on the canvas in the center of the ring.
Referee Lyson immediately waved off the contest, with Bangaiza in no position to continue.
Filling in to make up time due to back-to-back first-round knockouts, Ethan Brown (4-0) continued his unbeaten record with a second victory over Kasey Bradnum (1-16), scoring three knockdowns. Brown landed a straight right hand late in the first before stepping on the gas in the second, scoring two successive knockdowns causing referee Jamie Kirkpatrick to wave off the contest at 1:15 of the second of a scheduled four rounds.