In an entertaining war at the M&S Bank Arena in Liverpool, Natasha Jonas kept hold of her IBF welterweight title with a split decision win against Mikaela Mayer.
After near-misses in world title shots at super featherweight and lightweight, Jonas (15-2-1, 9KOs) captured the vacant WBO super welterweight title in February 2022, and added WBC and IBF belts before winning the IBF welterweight strap in July last year with an eighth round stoppage of Kandi Wyatt.
Mayer (19-2, 5KOs) had reigned as unified champion at super featherweight, but was upset by Alycia Baumgardner in October 2022, dropping a split decision. The American had won two straight ten round decisions since, one at lightweight, and another at super lightweight.
Jonas was led to the ring by the pioneering Jane Couch, and, after the national anthems, it was down to business.
HOMETOWN HERO! π₯
Natasha Jonas is joined by 2024 Hall of Fame inductee Jane Couch on her ringwalk π #JonasMayer | Live Now pic.twitter.com/0N67IFHTzB
β Sky Sports Boxing (@SkySportsBoxing) January 20, 2024
It was a busy start in the first round for Jonas, as she worked well to Mayerβs body, with the American trying to find her range. Mayer did land a decent left hand in round two, but Jonas looked comfortable, putting her punches together to good effect in a dominant third round for the champion.
Mayer landed with combination punches in the fourth, and forced Jonas to the ropes at the end of the round as she came back into the contest, and the pair traded leather in a frantic fifth, with Mayer connecting with a chopping right on the bell. Mayer was growing in confidence, holding her own in the exchanges and settling into a rhythm, and Jonas dug deep to target the body of the challenger in an absorbing seventh.
Jonas was neglecting her jab, and Mayer landed a jarring left in the eighth, but βMiss GBβ fired back with clean shots of her own in a tight round.
The pair went toe to toe in the penultimate frame, with Jonas finally utilising her jab, but both were giving as good as they were getting, and it looked all to play for ahead of the final frame. The two emptied what was left in their tanks, and the contest went to the final bell, where all outcomes looked possible.
Tallies of 96-94 and 96-95 were enough for Jonas to retain her belt, while a third judge had Mayer a 97-93 winner.
Chelli rights Cullen wrong, McKenna impresses and Artingstall goes the distance
In a rematch of their 2020 drawn meeting over ten rounds, Zak Chelli (15-2-1, 7KOs) became the new British and Commonwealth super middleweight champion, as he took a scrappy, technical affair against Jack Cullen (22-5-1, 10KOs) via unanimous decision.
It was a contest that never caught fire, but Chelli produced the cleaner work, and took victory by scores of 116-112, 116-113 and 115-114.
(Lawrence Lustig, Boxxer)
Aaron McKenna (18-0, 9KOs) saw a contest with Linus Udofia hit the buffers on fight week due to the Luton man being taken ill, but the Irishman boxed on, and went through the gears, eventually forcing a sixth round stoppage against late replacement Mickey Ellison (14-7, 5KOs).
Ellison had hurt his hand, and his corner threw the towel in as the referee jumped in at the same time with Ellison under fire in their super middleweight contest set for eight.
Karriss Artingstall (6-0, 1KO) scored a knockdown in against Lila dos Santos Furtado (9-2, 1KO), but had to settle for a points win over eight at featherweight. Artingstall floored Furtado with a ramrod left hand right at the end of the opening round, and the Brazilian was buzzed, but recovered between rounds.
The visitor gave Artingstall a decent argument in the end, but she took a 77-75 verdict on the refereeβs card.
Other undercard action
Mark Jeffers (17-0, 4KOs) made the first defence of his English super middleweight title, and it was a successful one, but he had to work hard to take a points win over ten against the teak-tough Germaine Brown (13-3, 4KOs).
Jeffers had the best of the action in the main, and ran out the winner by scores of 99-92, 98-93 (twice). Jeffers also claimed the Commonwealth Silver bauble.
Jack Massey (21-2, 12KOs) was last out in January 2023 in a spirited losing effort to Joseph Parker up at heavyweight, and he dropped down to his more usual weight of cruiserweight to wipe out Belgiumβs Steve Eloundo Ntere (8-2, 3KOs) inside a round of a scheduled six.
Massey wobbled Ntere, and then uncorked a slashing right hand to flatten the visitor, which forced the referee to wave the contest off immediately.
HUGE KO! Jack Massey closes the show with a πππππππππππ right hand π³#MasseyNtere x #JonasMayer pic.twitter.com/I0NYZjGs7A
β Sky Sports Boxing (@SkySportsBoxing) January 20, 2024
Ste Clarke (1-0, 1KO) made his pro debut, and after selling over 1000 tickets, the middleweight stopped Vasif Mamedov (3-47-5, 0KOs) Β in the third round of their meeting set for four. Mamedov complained about various things during the contest, and the referee decided to call a halt.
The unbeaten Mikie Tallon (4-0, 0KOs) opened the show, and the Liverpool-based flyweight impressed, winning all four rounds against Adam Yahaya (23-12-2, 12KOs)
