Ben Whittaker backs up the talk on his return to action

Whittaker, fighting for the first time in nine months following a shoulder injury, had promised to bring the hurt at Birmingham’s Resorts World Arena and inflicted no shortage of pain on his opponent on Saturday night.

Grant’s corner threw in the towel after their man was sent crashing to the canvas for the second time just 13 seconds into the third round as Olympic silver medallist Whittaker improved his professional record to 3-0.

“I could have easily got him out of there earlier," said Whittaker. "When I threw the first jab and his eyes swelled up I thought: ‘Yeah, I’ve got him’.

“Then I got a bit carried away looking at the crowd and having fun but that is just me. When I need to knuckle down and hurt someone, I can.”

Whittaker’s confident persona has undoubtedly ruffled some feathers but Saturday delivered a reminder he has seriously hard substance to go with the style.

Grant had been stopped just once previously in his nine-fight career but experienced a brutal six-and-a-bit minutes, his right eye already badly swollen before he was dropped for the first time by a powerful straight right late in the second.

After beating the count, it was still a slight surprise to see him emerge for the third round but the bell had barely stopped echoing before Whittaker connected again, this time with a left, to end the contest.

The 25-year-old, who still found time to engage the crowd with some showboating, had earlier paid tribute to former world champion Naseem Hamed with his ringwalk.

Whittaker, expected to be back in action next month on the undercard of Chris Eubank Junior and Liam Smith’s rematch, said: “I just got signed by Adidas and people say I have glimpses of Naz. I haven’t watched him too much to be honest but I thought for this fight, I’ll look into him.

“My favourite ringwalk of his was the Kevin Kelly fight and luckily, it worked out.

“Momentum is the main thing for me now. I want to keep on putting more performances like this. I want more rounds in the bank, more knockouts in the bank.

“The West Midlands is my home. I loved it. If we keep putting on performances like this, we can get bigger nights back here. Hopefully then I won’t be so low in the card, I’ll be the headline!”