Wharton on course for world title tilt

Boxing

Henry Wharton went left-handed in Halifax on Saturday night and put himself on course for another world title campaign.

The popular York fighter baffled Sam Storey by switching to a southpaw stance and finally exploded his big left hook to knock-out the Ulsterman after 27 seconds of the fourth round to retain his European and Commonwealth titles.

Wharton's tactical turn-round was not completely new. He is naturally left-handed and began his fighting life as a southpaw before training himself to fight from an orthodox stance.

It was the first defence of the European title he won in July when he knocked out Italy's Mauro Galvano and he now expects to fight the Frenchman Frederic Seillier. Wharton's manager, Mickey Duff, is counting on Wharton's performance prompting ITV to provide the money to bring the Seillier fight to Yorkshire in late January.

"If we make the fight in England he'll knock out Seillier, but if it goes to France, the punches will hurt just as much. He's No 2 in the WBC [World Council] rankings so he's very close to another world title shot," Duff said.