Ben Whittaker continues to have the time of his life in the infancy of his pro career.

The 25-year-old light heavyweight floored Scotland’s Jordan Grant twice en route to a third-round stoppage. Whittaker floored Grant late in round two and again early into round three which prompted an immediate stoppage at 0:13 of that round in their Sky Sports-aired bout Saturday at Resorts World Arena in Birmingham, England.

More than eight months had passed since Whittaker was last seen in the ring. A silver medalist for Great Britain during the delayed 2020 Tokyo Olympics, the flamboyant Brit made sure to have fun in his first fight back following injury.

He perhaps enjoyed himself a little too much, as referee Chris Dean warned Whittaker for excessive showboating barely two minutes into the fight. The rising prospect—aptly nicknamed ‘The Surgeon’—was precise in his attack thereafter, as a steady stream of jabs produced rapid swelling around Grant’s eye.

Whittaker shimmied in brief celebration following the first knockdown as Grant hit the deck late in round two. Grant beat the count and survived the round but there was genuine concern in his corner over how much longer he could continue.

That problem was resolved in a hurry. Whittaker—trained by Javan SugarHill Steward—opened the third round with a left hook to send Grant (6-4, 0KOs) to the canvas. Referee Chris Dean saw enough and immediately halted the contest.

Whittaker advanced to 3-0 (2KOs) with the win. His pro career began with a second-round knockout last July 30 before he went the six-round distance on an August 20 show which featured Anthony Joshua in his repeat defeat to unified heavyweight titlist Oleksandr Usyk. Whittaker is signed to Joshua’s 258 MGT company.

Opening the Sky Sports telecast, Belfast’s Sean McComb (16-1, 5KOs) outpointed locally based Kaisee Benjamin (16-3-1, 6KOs) over ten rounds. Scores were 97-93. 97-94 and 96-95 for McComb in their junior welterweight affair. The televised undercard also saw Tyler Denny (17-2-3, 0KOs) from nearby Rowley Regis edged hard-luck British middleweight Macaulay McGowan (17-42, 3 KOs) in their ten-round battle. McGowan won 97-93 on one card, overruled by scores of 96-94 and 96-94 awarded to Denny.

Headlining the show, unbeaten contender Joshua Buatsi (16-0, 13KOs)—a 2016 Olympic Bronze medalist for Great Britain—faces Poland’s Pawel Stepien (18-0-1, 12KOs) in a scheduled ten-round light heavyweight contest.

Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox