Ben Whittaker produced an impressive win over Richard Rivera on his US debut

Great Britain’s Ben Whittaker marked his American debut with an impressive second-round win over Richard Rivera at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

The fluent Whittaker dropped the American with a right hand at the end of the first round, although Rivera indicated that the punch caught him in the back of the head.

But Whittaker, nicknamed ‘The Surgeon’, clinically caught his opponent with a left hand early in the second and although Rivera staggered to his feet, the referee halted the light-heavyweight bout.

The victory increased Whittaker’s record to 12 wins and one draw from his 13 professional fights, while Rivera suffered the third loss of his 30-fight career.

“Brooklyn, this is how you do it,” said Whittaker, a boxer from the Midlands who is famous for his showboating and did a little dance at the end of the first round on his way back to his corner.

The fight took place on the undercard of Xander Zayas, who attempted to defend his WBA and WBO super-welterweight titles against Jaron Ennis.

But Zayas succumbed to a seventh-round stoppage, with the referee ending the contest after the Puerto Rican boxer was knocked down for the third time in the fight.

It was Zayas’ first loss in his 24-fight career, while undefeated American Ennis has won 36 fights.