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SSE Arena, Wembley – Florian Marku climbed off the canvas to stop Rylan Charlton in eight rounds in the evening’s chief-support bout.
‘The Albanian King’ toppled to the canvas in the sixth round, but then forced the stoppage with a ferocious response and called for a future clash with Benn, who was watching from ringside as part of the Sky Sports team.
Benn is back in action next month, when he faces veteran Samuel Vargas.
“I’m not like Conor Benn, who chooses people who have lost six, seven, eight times,” Marku told Sky Sports. “No, my opponents are undefeated. They don’t give their loss easy.”
Charlton was punished with stinging counters in the third, and the Norwich man appeared in serious trouble when he staggered through the closing seconds of the fourth following a big right hand from Marku.
Uncorking an eye-catching uppercut, Marku appeared in complete control in the fifth, but he suffered a shock knockdown in the next round after a looping left hand from Charlton. Marku ripped in punches in round eight with savage intent on the weary Charlton, prompting the towel to be thrown in.
“I am really happy,” said Marku. “A lot of people thought that he would humiliate me and knock me out, but I showed that I can box. I will learn a lot from this fight. Three weeks before the fight, I dislocated a finger in my left hand. My team and all of the staff know that I was injured but I was never going to pull out of the fight. I came here to fight.
“After the fifth round I started feeling my hand. It was not a problem. I am happy about the performance. Rylan took so many good hits in the head. He took a lot of punishment. I was beating him and I was talking to him. I told him I was going to beat him and talk to him. I was telling him I’m not Joe Laws. I take the win and we go forward.
“His face was swollen and it was a good decision from his corner. He took a lot of punishment. I love to fight, this is my life. Thanks to the UK fans that believe in me. They like to see me fight. I love pressure. I’ll fight whoever my team S-JAM boxing decide next. Sam Jones and Adam Morallee got me into this position. I have the best team around me.”