Shakan Pitters made a successful return to the ring after 16 months’ inactivity with a second round finish of Bahadur Karami on Saturday at the Park Community Arena in Sheffield, England.
Pitters had a frustrating week: he was originally scheduled to compete for the European Boxing Union (EBU) light heavyweight title but had two opponents pull out for reasons beyond his control. Up stepped Karami, 4-24-4, (1 KO) as a last minute replacement and it looked as though Pitters took out his frustration on him.
Pitters, now 20-2 (7 KOs), towered over Karami—as he so often does with all of his opponents —and used the size difference to his advantage. He picked off his opponent from range in the first and in the second started to put some mustard on his shots.
Midway through the second, Pitters landed a hard right that sat Karami down, but he managed to return to his feet on shaky legs. Pitters sensed an opportunity to get his first stoppage victory since 2021 and took it. He fired in powerful hooks to the body of the helpless Karami, and after a couple of uppercuts, referee Michael Alexander had seen enough. He waved off the action at two minutes and 13 seconds of round two.
Earlier, Reece Mould continued his comeback after his loss to Ryan Walsk. Mould, now 20-3 (6 KOs) got a much-needed six rounds in the bank against Stefan Vincent and performed well at welterweight – two divisions above his usual 135lbs.
Mould’s superior skills won him the majority of the rounds but he was made to work for the win by the game Vincent, now 2-26 (0 KOs), who was better than his record suggests. Referee Michael Alexander awarded Mould the decision via a score of 59-55.
Super middleweight prospect Taz Nadeem scored a stunning first round finish over Jaskirat Singh. Nadeem, now 5-0 (3 KOs), dropped Singh, 5-4-1 (3 KOs), with a hard right hand that Singh did well to get up from. However, it did not matter as moments later Nadeem landed another and referee Steve Gray jumped in before he could take more punishment. The time of the stoppage was 1:29 of round one.
Nohmaan Hussain, now 6-0 (3 KOs), defeated the tough Eric Omar Lopez, 16-23-2 (10 KOs), by a score of 40-36. The junior lightweight struggled to firmly tie down the awkward Lopez but the victory was never in doubt.
Before then, welterweight Ed Hardy impressed with a second round finish of Leonard Baez. Hardy, now 3-0 (2 KOs), caught Baez, 5-9, with a hard right late in the first that sent him tumbling to the canvas. He returned to his feet and seemed thankful to hear the bell sound seconds later. Hardy again caught Baez with the same right early into the second, and although Baez again rose, the fight was waved off. The time of the stoppage was 29 seconds of round two.
Lightweight Donte Dixox, now 8-0 (3 KOs), defeated Kevin Trana, 15-23-3 (9 KOs), to open the card. Dixon, a southpaw, used his superior skills to outbox his opponent and take a 40-36 decision.
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