Jack Cullen rebounded from a disastrous showing earlier in the year to pick up arguably the best win of his career.

A perfectly timed left hook by the 6’3” Brit was enough to drop and stop Mark Heffron in the third round of their British and Commonwealth super middleweight title fight. Heffron attempted to beat the count but immediately fell back to the canvas, which prompted referee Kieran McCann to stop the contest at 2:43 of round three in their all-UK clash Saturday at AO Arena in Manchester, England.

Both fighters took a reserved approach in the opening round. The tentative start was par for the course for Heffron, who traditionally picks up steam as the fight progresses. Cullen put his sizeable height and reach advantages to good use as he boxed almost exclusively behind the jab.

Cullen landed the bout’s first significant power shot in round two. A right hand by ‘Little Lever’s Meat Cleaver’ briefly stunned Heffron, who often fell short with a winging left hook and struggled to work his way inside.

The fight came to a screeching halt shortly after the action picked up in round three. Confidence flowed both ways as Cullen and Heffron landed power shots at close quarters. In a battle where every defeat between both boxers has come inside the distance, it was Cullen who showed the better chin after he took a left hook clean.

Heffron overshot with an ensuing right hand before he moved back to reset his feet. Cullen let rip with a right hand but it was a counter left hook on the inside that sent Heffron crashing to the canvas. Heffron was still out of sorts as he was unable to remain on his feet in a failed bid to beat the count as he fell to 29-3-1 (23KOs). All three career defeats have come inside the distance as he ended a four-fight win streak.

Cullen lost two of his last three, including a brutally one-sided fourth-round stoppage to fast-rising super middleweight prospect Diego Pacheco (19-0, 16KOs) on March 11 in Liverpool. The 29-year-old fringe contender advanced to 22-4-1 (10KOs) with his first stoppage win in more than three years.

Headlining the show, Liam Smith (33-3-1, 20KOs) and Chris Eubank Jr. (32-3, 23KOs) will meet in a scheduled twelve-round, middleweight rematch. Smith won their first bout via fourth-round knockout.

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