San Juan and Newcastle both hosted major title fights on Saturday night, with championship bouts headlining cards in Puerto Rico and England.
At the Coliseo de Puerto Rico, Xander Zayas and Abass Baraou met in a twelve-round unification clash at super welterweight. Zayas built momentum as the fight progressed, controlling the later rounds with sharper combinations and steadier pressure, while Baraou had success early with movement and counters. After twelve competitive rounds, Zayas edged a split decision on scores of 116–112 twice, with one judge favoring Baraou 116–112.
Watch the official fight highlights here.
Earlier on the same card, Juanmita Lopez De Jesus remained unbeaten with a six-round unanimous decision over Conner Goade at super flyweight. Lopez De Jesus dictated the pace throughout, landing the cleaner punches and keeping Goade on the back foot. All three judges scored the bout 60–53.
In Newcastle, England, Josh Kelly challenged Bakhram Murtazaliev for the IBF super welterweight title in a closely contested twelve-round fight. Kelly mixed movement and timing to disrupt Murtazaliev’s pressure, scoring a knockdown in the fourth round, while Murtazaliev responded with one of his own in the ninth. The bout went to the scorecards, where Kelly was awarded a majority decision by scores of 115–111, 114–113, and 113–113 to claim the title.
Watch the official fight highlights here.
On the Newcastle undercard, Josh Padley captured the vacant EBU European super featherweight title with a second-round stoppage of Jaouad Belmehdi. Padley overwhelmed Belmehdi early, dropping him with sustained offense before the referee halted the contest at 2:35 of round two.
Also on the card, Elif Nur Turhan successfully defended her IBF lightweight title against Taylah Gentzen in a ten-round bout. Turhan controlled much of the action with steady pressure, though Gentzen had moments of success, resulting in a split decision victory for Turhan on scores of 96–94 and 98–92, with one judge scoring it 97–93 for Gentzen.
Image Credit: Matchroom Boxing