Artur Beterbiev retained his WBC, WBO, and IBF light heavyweight titles with an eighth-round stoppage victory over Anthony Yarde.
To get his hands raised, the champion had to take his lumps as Yarde gave his all for seven sessions.
Artur Beterbiev wins
Both men were hurt several times and boasted cuts on their cheeks, but Beterbiev had the engine to get the job done.
The fifth round will go down as one of the rounds of the year as the pair went at it in a see-saw three minutes.
After softening Yarde up with the harder punches, Beterbiev managed to take the Briton out in the eighth.
Beterbiev vs Yarde undercard results
Moses Itauma landed two punches in his heavyweight professional debut as he knocked out Marcel Bode in fourteen seconds.
The amateur standout, who won the world championships before signing with Frank Warren, hit a couple of solid straight left hands. That was all she wrote.
Itauma put the devastation of watching his brother Karol lose for the first time earlier in the night behind him.
Moses Itauma
Based on this evidence, the eighteen-year-old holds frightening power and will be a force to be reckoned with.
Talking about his sibling’s loss after the bout, Moses said it was tough to deal with before he got the job done. “Emotions were high,” he said.
Picking up the vacant WBC International light heavyweight belts and a world ranking, Ezequiel Osvaldo Maderna shocked star Queensberry prospect Karol Itauma.
Maderna had Itauma in trouble in the fourth. And despite words of advice in his corner, the previously undefeated fighter could not change things up.
Caught in the fifth, Itauma went down and showed disinterest in making the count.
Itauma faces an arduous rebuild after that performance.
Defending the WBA flyweight title, Artem Dalakian was forced to complete twelve rounds against David Jimenez.
Dalakian kept his belt in an enjoyable fight to watch. All three judges carded in favor of the champion 116-112 and 115-113 [twice].
Early action
Charles Frankham won every round against Joshua Ocampo at super featherweight. He’s now 7-0 after a comprehensive 60-54 win.
At featherweight, Masood Abdulah moved to 8-0. He dropped Lesther Lara to the canvas en route.
Before the main card, featherweight Umar Khan defeated Sandeep Singh Bhatti 8 to move to 6-0. Meanwhile, Khalid Ali recorded a first-round obliteration of the hapless Ivica Gogosevic.
Tommy Fletcher beat the ever-durable Darryl Sharp over the distance in the cruiserweight floater.
Fletcher became one of the 102 fighters who failed to stop Sharp in the journeyman’s 105 bouts.
“The Norfolk Nightmare” won all six rounds in a learning process.
