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Ben Whittaker steered his career back on track with a second-round stoppage of Liam Cameron to win their light-heavyweight rematch in Birmingham.

The 27-year-old whipped in a flush right to hurt Cameron and then loaded up with several unanswered punches before the fight was, perhaps a little prematurely, called off.

An emotional Whittaker, 27, then ran over to the opposite corner at the BP Pulse Live arena and began shouting at Cameron’s team.

TV replays showed some spit land in the direction of trainer Grant Smith, although it appeared to be unintentional.

“My emotions came out, I was roaring like a lion,” Whittaker said when asked about the incident on Sky Sports.

“If a little bit of dribble came out, then a little bit of dribble came out. “

Whittaker, from nearby Wolverhampton, made a spectacular entrance as he danced in front of pyrotechnics while accompanied by a choir, but was met with jeers.

The 2020 Olympic silver medallist looked a little surprised at the crowd’s reaction.

Most observers had Cameron, 34, winning the first fight in Saudi Arabia but it was Whittaker who made the sharp start, with crisp and accurate punching.

England striker Marcus Rashford and UFC star Leon Edwards watched on as Whittaker – with his nickname ‘The Surgeon’ etched on his shorts – landed cleanly midway through the first round.

He put it on Cameron and another right connected as the Sheffield fighter’s legs dipped and he was held up by the bottom rope.

Referee Howard Foster saw enough and jumped in. There were no real protests from Cameron.

After his verbal attack on Smith, Whittaker cupped his hands as more boos echoed around the arena, though he did share an embrace with Cameron and his team a little later.

Whittaker’s stock dropped after his draw in Saudi Arabia. He left that fight in a wheelchair and was accused of quitting by some fans.

But he bounced back in style in his first fight under respected trainer Andy Lee, who defended his boxer’s outpouring of emotion.

“No one can understand what this man has gone through over the last six months,” Lee said.

British heavyweight Frazer Clarke returned to winning ways on the undercard with a statement first-round stoppage victory over Ebenezer Tetteh.

The 33-year-old connected with a heavy right. Tetteh rose to his feet on unsteady legs before the fight was waved off after a barrage of punches.

Ghanaian Tetteh disputed referee Kevin Parker’s decision. He placed his hands on the official and pulled him towards him, and had to be calmed down by his team.

Clarke had surgery on his jaw and cheekbone following a devastating loss to Fabio Wardley in October.

“I’ve been crying out for that kind of performance since my debut,” 2020 Olympic bronze medallist Clarke said.

Lewis Hamilton described his Saudi Arabian Grand Prix as “horrible” and said he had no explanation for his lack of pace in the Ferrari.

The seven-time champion finished seventh and was 31 seconds behind team-mate Charles Leclerc, who scored Ferrari’s first grand prix podium of the season with third place.

“Nothing positive to take from today,” Hamilton said, “apart from Charles on the podium, which is great for the team.

“It was horrible, not enjoyable at all. I was just sliding around. It’s pretty bad. “

He is seventh in the drivers’ championship with his best result in a full grand prix this season his fifth place in Bahrain a week ago.

Hamilton said that he was “struggling to feel the car beneath me” but that there was “no particular thing, nothing to say: ‘Hey, this is the issue. ‘”

And asked why he had been so good in the sprint race in China last month, where he won from pole position, and had struggled elsewhere, he said: “I don’t have an answer. “

Briton Hamilton, 40, said he expected to struggle at the next race in Miami, too, adding: “I don’t know how much longer I’ll struggle for but it’s definitely painful. Just going to try and improve from week to week. “

“At the moment there is no fix so this is how it’s going to be for the rest or the year. It’s going to be painful.

Leclerc, by contrast, drove an outstanding race with a long first stint on the medium tyres to catch and pass Mercedes’ George Russell for the final podium place.

He said: “I feel like we’ve maximised absolutely everything we could have this weekend. There wasn’t anything more in the car.

“We need to focus on qualifying because it’s been a very long time I haven’t been as happy with the car balance.

“I feel very at ease with the car in a way that I know I can extract the maximum out of the car more often than not, but unfortunately, the car potential is just not good enough to fight for better in qualifying. “

Ferrari just missed out on winning the constructors’ championship last year and started this season hoping to compete for the title.

But McLaren and Red Bull have progressed more than the Italian team over the winter.

Leclerc said: “We are close on the race pace. Free air dictates a little bit who is going to win the race. That’s always been the case. Maybe this year a little bit more than other years. And obviously when that is the case, qualifying is more important.

“But unfortunately, for two years, we are just struggling in qualifying to put everything together.

“The problem is it’s not always the same issue. This time it was four tenths in the first three corners. For the rest of the lap, we were fast. And now today in the race, actually, the first sector was probably the best sector we had.

“So we’ve got to look at that. Obviously, there are answers in what we are doing, and we are doing something wrong, clearly. We’ve got to find it.

“We cannot lose too many races before finding it because we’re already 50 points down in the drivers’ championship.