Junior Witter impressed a star-studded audience on London's Park Lane with an impressive second round stoppage of Ghana's Laatekwei Hammond to add the vacant Commonwealth light-welterweight title to his British crown.

Witter had his African opponent down three times in a fight which lasted less than five minutes before the referee spared Hammond any further punishment.

The victory sent a clear message to Ricky Hatton, present at ringside, the man Witter is chasing for a big money pay day.

The clash headlined a bill which paid tribute to the bravery of Michael Watson, who has battled back from a near fatal loss to Chris Eubank in 1991.

Watson collapsed shortly after being knocked out by Eubank in a gruelling encounter and had to undergo surgery to treat a blood clot on his brain.

The former fighter has made a remarkable recovery from an incident which looked set to claim his life and a guest list which included ring legends Jake La Motta and Lennox Lewis gathered under the chandeliers at one of London's top venues to pay a fitting tribute to one of the bravest of the brave.

The sea of dinner jackets and tablecloths proved to be no distraction to Witter who quickly went about his work, downing Hamond with a right to the side of the head after just one minute and 20 seconds of round one.

Hammond, who has taken the highly rated Bobby Vanzie eight rounds, was clearly shaken and went immediately on the defensive but was floored again 30 seconds from the bell with a straight right.

There was no way back for the Ghanaian and the third knockdown came with 1m 10secs on the second round clock.

He rose to his feet, quickly fell over as Witter pursued his prey around the ring and gave the referee no option but to call a halt as he desperately clung on with 1m 8secs left to go.

Afterwards, Witter - now with a record of 25-1 - taunted WBU champion Hatton.

"There's no doubt I can hit," Witter told Sky Sports' Adam Smith. "He took a lot of shots off Bobby Vanzie and he took a lot off me but I'm just too powerful.

"I took a couple of shots myself, I got a bit sloppy, but I think I did it in fine style.

"I know I'm the best in Britain and if anyone wants to challenge me I'm here.

"I looked up to Michael Watson. I respect the way he went about his work, stuck at his game and deserved more than he got."

Asked whether he was now ready to take on Hatton, promoter Frank Warren added: "Junior needs a few more fights before Ricky Hatton, but the name of the game when you are fighting the big fights is that the money is right, this is a dangerous sport.

"We need a bit more experience and a bit more exposure for Junior."