IT wasn’t quite Barnsley but it wasn’t bad.

Callum Simpson defended his British and Commonwealth titles with a second round TKO victory at the Canon Medical Arena in Sheffield last Saturday night.

Opponent Steed Woodall had been put down by a bombardment of punches in the second round and was stopped with just shy of five minutes gone in the contest.

The weigh-in and press conference ahead of the fight had been held in the steel city’s grandiose Cutlers’ Hall.

A quote from Ruskin adorns the walls.

A part of it, tweaked, could apply to Simpson’s own craftsmanship.

“The best of its kind done by English hands. Unsurpassable when the workman chooses to do all he knows.”

Simpson is edging closer to proving he has the best British hands of any 12 stone fighter but further tests of his mettle have got to come.

Potential fights against Liam Cameron, Mark Jeffers and an Olympic silver owner in Ben Whittaker are options.

Then we will see Simpson’s true value.

In a show called ‘True Grit’, it was needed on the roads to get people to the arena following a week of snow and freezing conditions and from Simpson himself to put emotions to one side and win in honour of his sister Lily-Rae who died just weeks after his title wins back at Oakwell in August.

Callum wore tributes to her on his kit and paid an emotional tribute to her in pre and post fight interviews with Sky Sports.

Manager Kevin Maree said: “Callum has had to deal with a lot through the last few months, I was as nervous as I could have been to be honest, but he’s gone out and been punch perfect.

“There is nothing this kid can’t deal with. He’s unbelievable.

“He is a special person surrounded by a special family.

“I think you have either got it or you haven’t.

“It couldn’t have gone any better.”

Simpson needed to have this fight across the border in Sheffield as the Metrodome is now too small for his ticket sales.

Barnsley FC’s match at Northampton’s postponement meant all eyes were on him on Saturday and the noise when the stoppage came was as loud as any goal slammed in at the Ponty End.

“It was noise from start to finish. Just one big noise,” said Simpson.

But was the stoppage too early?

Perhaps, but consider this: in a dangerous sport, it’s always better to stop a fight too early than too late.

Woodall, though a dangerous fighter, had shown no signs of dominance and Simpson looked primed to unload once again.

Had the Birmingham man been sent thudding to the canvas the question marks over the referee being too slow would have been even louder.

Simpson is a fit, strong and fast fighter and that should always be in the referee’s mind.

In a red hot cauldron, Woodall was caught cold by the relentlessness of Simpson and he was getting caught by big shots in the first round.

The fight only looked like it was going one way.

Simpson’s support is enormous and he made a mockery of the suggestion that January boxing is a folly with tickets swept up swiftly for another sell-out.

The basketball arena helped provide an unusual atmosphere with fans to the north and south of the ring – shouting and chanting to a central point.

There were tongue-in-cheek chants about how the fans would rather be in Barnsley but Simpson’s following is now such that some would go see him do a four-rounder in Outer Mongolia.

His popularity will only continue to grow alongside his reputation if he keeps entertaining and winning in this manner.