Moray boxer Fraser Wilkinson is determined to keep improving after winning the Scottish Area middleweight title on Saturday.
The 23-year-old defeated Coatbridge contender Ben McGivern with a knockout in the penultimate round of their ten round bout at Elgin Town Hall.
Backed by a noise home support, Wilkinson embraced the step-up from super welterweight to take on a more experienced and heavier rival.
McGivern, 36, won the Celtic middleweight title last year and gave Wilkinson a stern test which the Moray man passed with flying colours.
Managed and promoted by Kynoch Boxing Scotland and trained by the Northern Sporting Club run by brothers David and Matty McAllister in Aberdeen, Wilkinson’s preparations have taken him to the best shape of his career.
King of Scotland 👑
Big performance from Fraser Wilkinson last night in his hometown of Elgin to become two-weight Scottish champion.
Some big nights ahead for Fraser and he's ready to start moving through the levels. 📈#boxing #kynochboxing #scottishboxing #boxingnews pic.twitter.com/55lU8tFkFy
— Kynoch Boxing (@KynochBoxing) May 5, 2024
“I’m delighted,” he said. “It’s just brilliant, and it all comes down to the work we’ve done over these past seven months with David.”
Wilkinson had previously won the Scottish super welterweight title in Elgin after a points victory over Arbroath’s Corey McCulloch in December 2022.
McCulloch gained his revenge in the rematch in May last year, forcing a fifth round knockout in Dundee to snatch the belt from his Moray rival.
Two wins later in 2023, Wilkinson was back on track and chasing his next title opportunity.
It came this year when the Scottish middleweight belt became vacant.
McGivern had beaten Irishman Dominic Donegan in Glasgow with a unanimous points verdict to claim the Celtic middleweight belt last March.
He then stepped up to super middleweight to take on undefeated Wishaw rival Darren Johnstone for the Scottish title in February.
McGivern sustained a nasty cut in the first round and the fight was stopped, with Johnstone maintaining his perfect record and the losing fighter prompted to return to middleweight for Saturday’s next title shot.
Wilkinson said he took a risk by stepping up to middleweight. “I’m in between weights now and I’ve got to make a decision on what to do.
“I just want to get my head down and get better and better.”
The Hopeman fighter, now based in Aberdeen to work closer with his boxing team, was grateful for the strong support on the night.
“The crowd was even better than the last time I was here,” he said.
Wilkinson landed the cleaner punches throughout the bout, but was docked a point for catching his opponent with an elbow in the sixth.
He later said he waited for the opportunity to strike, which came in the ninth when McGivern committed himself to landing a heavy right hander on the home hopeful.
‘Wilko’ immediately pounced with a deadly combination of punches to put McGivern down for the first time, and the fight was over.
His victory was the main event on a three-fight card which also involved a female exhibition bout over four two-minute rounds between Aberdeen’s Shelley MacDonald and undefeated Glaswegian Cassidy Todd.
The middle bout saw up-and-coming Inverness lightweight Adian Williamson preserve his perfect professional record in the ring by defeating Nicaraguan Engel Gomez on an unanimous points verdict after four three minute rounds.
Williamson, 20, has now won all seven of his fights so far.