By Nick Halling

The news that British light welterweight champion Darren Hamilton has signed a high-profile promotional deal with Matchroom has hardly come as a shock. What is a surprise is that it has taken this long for his talent to be recognized.

Hamilton’s rise in recent years has been nothing short of extraordinary. In March 2011, he was making up the numbers in a Southern area title fight against Peter McDonough. Except McDonough couldn’t handle him, retiring on his stool after 8.

He was brought in as a selected opponent for John Watson,  supposedly rebuilding after losing his British title. Watson had the advantage of boxing in his home city of Liverpool: Hamilton outpointed him over eight. In May 2012, he was brought in at four days notice to take on defending British champion Ashley Theophane. But the useful Theophane couldn’t get him under control, losing his title on a unanimous decision.

Successive defences have followed: Liverpool’s Steve Williams clearly outpointed in his own back yard, and the tricky Adil Anwar suffering the same fate four months ago.

The story is always the same. Hamilton is the unfancied underdog, but  works behind a strong jab and makes himself a difficult target to hit. He doesn’t bring knockout-of-the-year,  edge-of-the-seat drama, but he does bring smooth precision to his work. He is a highly-effective, disciplined, intelligent technical boxer.

These qualities have been enough to take him to the brink of outright ownership of the Lonsdale belt, and according to his manager, Spencer Fearon, we haven’t seen anything yet. “He’s always the underdog, yet he steals their souls,” he said. “After he beats them, they are never the same again.”

The evidence exists to back that claim up. McDonough lost eight of his next 10 to slide completely out of the championship picture. Watson and Williams haven’t fought since losing to Hamilton, Anwar’s once-promising career is flatlining, while Theophane is attempting to reinvent himself in America as part of the Mayweather team.

Fearon, a former pro, is one of the higher-profile characters on the London boxing scene, combining a developing media career with an encyclopaedic knowledge of boxing history and a sharp line in tailoring. A master of quick one-liners, there is substance behind Fearon too. He has guided Hamilton on his unlikely journey, from living rough in Bristol, to British boxing champion and possibly beyond. “I’ve built his career up from nothing,” he said: a statement of fact rather than a simple boast.

Relationships and alliances are built on sand in this business, but Fearon and Hamilton seem to be very close. “Darren was offered another deal elsewhere, but one of the stipulations was that he couldn’t work with me,” said Fearon. “Darren told them where they could go.”

Together they have both joined Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom stable, where the plan is for Hamilton to defend his domestic title in February, before moving onto an assault on the European crown within six months.

That is far from the limit of Fearon’s aspirations for his man. “The sky’s the limit,” he said. He doesn’t care who he fights, and with his awkward style, I’m telling you he can beat anyone in the world, Provodnikov or any of them. It wouldn’t necessarily be pretty, but he’d find a way to win. Mark my words, you can put him in with absolutely anybody.”

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Kal Yafai is staking a claim for being one of British boxing’s unluckiest fighters of 2013. The Birmingham super flyweight tore a bicep muscle in March and was forced to sit out seven months. He came back with a win in October, but hopes of boxing on the Froch-Groves undercard were dashed just minutes before he was due to walk to the ring.

Yafai’s non-appearance on the Manchester megabill was a mystery, not least because he had looked good on the scales at Friday’s weighin, and was then observed sitting ringside in a prominent yellow T-shirt, seemingly in excellent health.

“The original opponent (Abigail Medina) was too heavy. He was supposed to weigh 8st 8lb on Saturday morning, but he came in a 8-12, so that was that,” he said. “Then they found a replacement, who was coming up from Bristol, so I prepared for that instead.

“I was all gloved up, ready to go, when they told me there was a problem with the new guy’s paperwork. This was literally 10 minutes before I was due to walk to the ring. At that point, they offered me a chance to do four rounds with Medina, but my head was just all over the place, so it could have been a bit of a risk.

“Instead I just got changed, went ringside and watched the rest of the bill. It was really frustrating, because I was in great shape for it. But I’m fighting again on 14 December, so that’s given me something else to look forward to. It’s frustrating, but that’s life for a boxer. You’ve just got to pick yourself up and get on with it.”

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Former WBC super middleweight champion Richie Woodhall believes that there was no injustice when referee Howard Foster stepped inbetween Carl Froch and George Groves – but also insists that, although beaten on the night, Groves is now a big-league player in the super middle division.

“I was on record as saying that I didn’t think George would have the power to knock Carl out,” he said. “And let’s just remember, he didn’t! But let me also be the first to stand corrected. While I genuinely didn’t think he’d have power at world level,  to do what he did to Froch in that first round, let’s just say I’m converted!”

These days a highly respected and in-demand pundit, Woodhall has no issue with referee Howard Foster’s stoppage, joining a majority at ringside who could see that Groves was unravelling fast when Foster stepped in.

“I was surprised by George’s speed, and how long he was able to keep it going,” he said. “It was an exceptional performance. But there was no doubt in my mind that he was starting to slow down. The tide had definitely started to turn.”

Woodhall was also full of praise for the resilience and sheer will-to-win of the champion.

“I’ve got mixed feelings about Carl’s performance,” he added. “For whatever reason, he wasn’t quite right. The timing and the accuracy were not there. But as ever, you have to be impressed with how strong Carl Froch is. His resilience is simply unbelievable. It wasn’t a great performance, but it just shows once again the kind of character he’s got.”

Nor is Woodhall joining the clamour suggesting that Froch is now past his best and should call it a day.

 “On the basis of what I saw on Saturday night, he’s got one or two fights left at world level. When he decides to go is something that’s entirely up to Carl Froch.

“But in losing that fight, George Groves was very much a winner. He’ll only get better from that experience, and has certainly now arrived on the world stage. I didn’t think he was world class before, but he definitely proved he is now.”

Nick Halling is a commentator for Sky Sports.