Sheffield boxing giant Shakiel Thompson goes with the flow

But when it came to fighting him in the ring, well...the River dried up.

Wilson-Bent, the Coventry middleweight, was made to eat his words; he'd criticised Thompson for a so-called padded previous record against inferior opposition.

At a sold-out Park Community Arena, Sheffield, Rover had those attempts to lampoon the Handsworth fighter rammed down his throat.

He was on the canvas in the second round and met the same fate three times in the third before the bout was waved off.

Shakiel, by day a 27-year-old sales administrator at Sheffield company Gripple, becomes a giant of a man in the ring, at night.

And Wilson-Bent, for all his pre-fight words, found there was nowhere to hide - ironically the name of Izzy Asif's show.

Sheffield's 6ft 3ins southpaw had slimmed down to the bone for the first defence of his IBF European and WBO Global Middleweight belts.

The experienced Wilson-Bent, 30 has been in with the likes of Hamzah Sheeraz, Austin Williams and Ryan Kelly.

But that counted for nothing in the headline act at the biggest GBM Sports show, so far.

Thompson had promised he would show he was "levels above" his opponent and showed just that, moving his record to 13 straight wins.

The first knockdown came via a right hook to the temple as Wilson-Bent sought to bring the heat and was caught by the home fighter's speed and accuracy.

In fairness, the Midlander tried to re-assert himself but only brought himself more trouble.

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And after his final dip on to the canvas, referee Michael Alexander looked deep into his eyes and rightly waved the fight off.

The Arena exploded in happiness as Thompson climbed the ropes in celebration.

A win, a pay-day and a £1,000 win bonus in his metaphorical back pocket.

Now he can look forward to further title attempts, with Linus Udofia, the English champion, possibly in his sights.

One other name to look out for is Stoke's Nathan Heaney, the former British champion who is looking for a big fight after losing his crown in July.

On the undercard, Sheffield's 'Yorkshire Yardie' Napthali Nembhard opened the show with a routine points win over a late-change opponent.

The Wolseley Road Boxing Club southpaw comfortably kept Konstantin Aleksandrov at range - it was a careful and controlled display that left you agreeing with Nap's own viewpoint that he needs to move on from four-rounders.

Doncaster's farmer-cum-fighter Ed Hardy made his professional debut and after feeling opponent Engel Gomez out in the early stages, showed plenty of venom with some menacing attacks on the ropes.

The well-supported super featherweight also hopes to show more of his skillset in three more contracted fights, at six rounds, with GBM Sports.

Taz Nadeem brought his hugely destructive power back on the scene with a first-round knockout - his second such victory in just three attempts -of Adam Cieslak.

You had to feel sorry for the Polish visitor - he crumbled twice as body shot after body shot rained into him.

Nadeem, a Rotherham butcher, is a gift to South Yorkshire boxing, and a dream to promote.

GBM said he had been in "savage mode" - and you couldn't argue with that.

Cieslak's only consolation is that he won't have to fight him again.

Another highlight of the extraordinary bill was Doncaster's former world champion Maxi Hughes, who stopped his Greek opponent in the sixth round. He's now hoping to get back where he belongs at the top level.

FULL RESULTS:

Shakiel Thompson (previously 12 0 0) Sheffield TKO'd River Wilson-Bent (17 4 2) Coventry (IBF European and WBO Global Middleweight)

Reece Mould (18 2 0) (Doncaster) lost TKO Ryan Walsh (28 4 2) Norfolk, light

Tysie Gallagher (8 2 0) beat Tori-Ellis Willetts (5 0 0) super bantam (Commonwealth)

Hughie Fury (28 3 0) Manchester bt Christian Thun (9 1 0) Germany heavy

Maxi Hughes (26 7 2) Doncaster TKO'd Efstathios Antonas (7 2 2) Rhodes light

Jack Bateson (19 1 0) Leeds stopped Rakesh Lohchab (16 4 1) India feather

Amaar Akbar (6 0 0) Batley bt Fernando Mosquera (6 22 0) Colombia welter

Koby McNamara (7 0 0) Leeds bt Adil Rajesh Kumar Singh (11 5 2) India bantam

Muhammad Mustafa Ali (4 0 1)Leicester, bt Jake Pollard (1-76-0) Bradford super bantam

Edward Hardy (debut) Marr, Doncaster bt Engel Gomez (8 36 3) Nicaragua feather

Taz Nadeem (2 0 0) Rotherham stopped Adam Cieslak (8 19 1) Poland light heavy

Naphtali Nembhard (3 0 0) Sheffield bt Konstantin Aleksandrov (11-68-4) Bulgaria, super middle.

* Meanwhile, Sheffield-based Thomas Essomba, with Sunny Edwards in his corner, lost his EBU European Bantamweight title to Sunny's brother Charlie, at York Hall, Bethnal Green. The fight went to the judges who recorded a unanimous decision of 117-111, 116-112 and 118-111.