Artur Beterbiev became the undisputed light heavyweight champion, as he added the WBA and IBO belts to his collection with a thrilling majority decision win against Dmitry Bivol in Saudi Arabia.
Beterbiev (21-0, 20 KOs) came into this one on the back of 20 straight early wins, collecting a wealth of world titles along the way, and was last out in January, stopping Callum Smith in seven, while Bivol (23-1, 12 KOs) halted Malik Zanid in six rounds in his last contest in June.
Bivol landed with some decent counters and combinations in the opening round, and after a quiet second, the Russian again enjoyed success with more combinations in the third.
Beterbiev inched forward though, and the fourth saw him up the pressure, but his rival was remaining behind a tight guard.
The 39-year-old was busy, but a lot of his punches were hitting the gloves of Bivol, although the sheer volume of his work was starting to bank him some rounds.
Beterbiev poured on the pressure in the seventh, landing with some solid blows, but the 33-year-old WBA titlist replied in kind, a left hand wobbling the unified champion.
Beterbiev was told in his corner that he needed a knockout in the championship rounds, and he reacted to that advice, as he had a very strong penultimate frame, connecting with several shots that troubled a tiring Bivol, but both boxers made it to the final bell in what was an absorbing contest.
A 114-114 draw was countered by scores of 116-112 and 115-113 in Beterbiev’s favour, as he got the nod, and walked away with all the belts.
Wardley destroys Clarke in rematch
The highly-anticipated rematch between Fabio Wardley and Frazer Clarke ended emphatically, as Wardley defended his British heavyweight title in less than a round.
The pair served up a thriller in March at the O2 Arena, which ended in a draw, but Wardley (18-0-1, 17 KOs) rendered the judges redundant this time, as he blitzed Clarke (8-1-1, 6 KOs) with a volley of heavy punches that left him on shaky ground, and he finished in style.
A hammer of a right hand scrambling the Burton man’s senses, and the referee waved the contest off.
Opetaia sees off Massey
Jai Opetaia did pretty much as he pleased against Jack Massey, defending his IBF cruiserweight title for the first time in his second spell as champion, after the Brit’s corner threw the towel in during round six.
Opetiaia (26-0, 20 KOs) was in dominant form, and although Massey (22-3, 12 KOs) presented a brave challenge, he was never really in the contest, and after being broken down by punches to head and body in the sixth, the 31-year-old’s trainer Joe Gallagher felt it necessary to withdraw his charge from battle.
Eubank Jr smokes Szeremeta
Chris Eubank Jr took the vacant IBO middleweight title against Kamil Szeremeta, scoring four knockdowns in a seventh round win.
Szeremeta (25-3-2, 8 KOs) was over from a right hand in the opening round, and the same shot put him on the canvas in round six.
The Pole was down twice more in round seven, and the referee wisely called an end to the action.
Eubank Jr (34-3, 25 KOs) went face-to-face with Conor Benn after the fight, with the pair hoping to reschedule their bout after it was infamously shelved on fight week in October 2022.
Whittaker-Cameron fight to bizarre draw
There was a controversial and bizarre ending at light heavyweight, as Ben Whittaker and Liam Cameron (23-6-1, 10 KOs) fought to a technical draw after five rounds.
The two went into an aggressive clinch on the ropes in the fifth, and both tumbled out of the ring over the top rope.
Whittaker (8-0-1, 5 KOs) came off the worse, with his leg injured, and he was unable to continue, with the contest going to the cards as the incident was ruled an accidental foul.
A tally for each at 58-57 was ruled redundant as a third judge scored 58-58 after five completed rounds.
Nicolson overcomes Chapman
Skye Nicolson successfully defended her WBC featherweight world title for a second time, as she pulled away after the halfway mark to take a points win Raven Chapman (9-1, 2 KOs).
Nicolson (12-0, 1 KO) retained her belt by two scores of 98-92, and a third at 99-91 in a historic first all-female world title bout in Saudi Arabia.
Super featherweight debutant Mohammed Alakel (1-0, KO0) got off to a winning start in his four round meeting with Jesus Gonzalez (3-3, KO0), as he took a points win.
