Sheffield's Shak Thompson proves his attack is good enough to see him on the world stage

His midnight mauling of Bulgarain threshing machine Vladimir Georgiev didn’t just bring him his 12th straight win, it also underlined his case to be a major name in the domestic and international middleweight division.

Watching him dismantle a genuinely tough and unpredictable opponent with some obscene body shots was an awe-inspiring experience for Saturday’s fight fans at the Magna Centre.

Thompson, who had celebrated his 27th birthday the day prior, had to navigate plenty of wild windmill lunges from the more experienced rival.

But the 6ft 3in Handsworth father of two was too measured, rangey, precise and powerful for the man from Sofia.

And he had two titles, the IBF European and the WBO Global, to take home to his daughters.

“This means a lot to me,” he said.

“I put a lot of hard work in training and it paid off. We said I had to systematically break him down, and I did.

“I am happy with the performance.”

Promoter Izzy Asif was delighted with the headliner in a marathon show that went on for seven hours.

“I have learned so much about Shakiel Thompson.

“He showed so much heart against a tough, tough opponent who had never been stopped before.”

Asif said the Sheffielder had things to work on but he was confident he could “go all the way”.

“He could be the next superstar to come out of Sheffield,” he said.

Boxing commentator Spencer Oliver acknowledged that this had been the sort of fight he needed to get through to enter the world stage.

The southpaw had largely stayed out of reach out of some looping shots while focusing on depleting Georgiev’s energy reserves with some spiteful blows to the body.

That cruel technique was particularly visible in the seventh round, softening up the hardman until he plummeted to the canvas in the following period.

Referee Howard Foster took pity on him and waved off the fight.

The most explosive undercard performance came from debutant Taz Nadeem, who was transitioning from cross fit and weightlifting to boxing.

He marched in to the ring with a scowl on his face and took out his pent-up energies on a hapless Estonian Sergey Bannov.

Within 20 seconds the Rotherham fitness fanatic pinned his man to the ropes and unleashed a devastating left hook to his chin.

Bannov had to be helped on to a stool, where he must have examined his own reasons in being a journeyman with a W1 L24 D4 record.

Nadeem said he’d been nervous before entering the ring and revealed he’d been told by his team to pace himself – an order he didn’t need to observe.

The Millennium Boxing Club member thanked his trainer Jamie Kennedy and Asif for having faith in him, despite his limited amateur and schoolboy boxing background.

Earlier, Red Johnson responded with style to his own trainer’s instructions from the corner.

“Don’t be lazy” yelled Dominic Ingle and the Intake super middleweight answered the rebuke by stopping Tomasz Felsz 98 seconds into the second round.

Red, 27, had his own chin tested in round one but overwhelmed the Pole who looked like he’d had his nose re-arranged.

Afterwards Red said he wanted to remain busy and reward his Sheffield fans.

Yorkshire Yardie Naphtali Nembhard couldn’t get his opponent Josh Cook out early, but he dominated every round in his points win.

The southpaw released some chopping punches early on but couldn’t direct the power to end the bout.

The Sharrow-based boxer said he showed a come-forward style more than previously but admitted he “needed to go through the gears more”.

Asif described him as the most dedicated athlete he knows.

Nembhard paid tribute to his coach Sean Thickett, who he said had been determined to train him despite being involved in a car crash.

RESULTS

• Shakiel Thompson (previous record: 11 0 0, Sheffield) stopped Vladimir Georgiev (12 3 0, Sofia, Bulgaria) IBF European and Global Middleweight titles.
• Nicola Hopewell (4 1 0, Worksop) beat Gemma Ruegg (7 10 1, Bournemouth) Commonwealth Boxing Council flyweight title.
• Kieran Molloy (7 0 0, Galway, Ireland) beat Sergio Garcia Herrera (7 4 0, Mexico) welter.
• Tiernan Bradley (8 0 0, Dublin) beat Miguel Cesario Antin (20 13 1, Argentina) super light.
• Hughie Fury (26 3 0, Manchester) beat Kostiantyn Dovbyshchenko (10 15 1, London/Ukraine ) heavy.
• Harvey Lambert (3 0 0, Hull) beat Nikola Stoyanov (5 8 0, Bulgaria) welter.
• Michael King (3 2 0 London/Democratic Republic Of The Congo) stopped Rhys Woods (6 3 1, Stockport) super welter.
• Red Johnson (5 0 0, Sheffield) stopped Tomasz Felsz (2 2 0, Bournemouth/Poland) super middle.

Arlo Stephens (debut, York) bt Amine Boucetta (8 11 0, Belgium) heavy

Naphtali Nembhard (2 0 0, Sheffield) bt Josh Cook (1 37 3, Manchester) middle

Taz Nadeem (debut, Rotherham) stopped Sergey Bannov (1 23 4, Estonia) light heavy.