Jack Catterall suffered a surprising defeat to Arnold Barboza Jr in Manchester as he missed out on a world title shot.
Catterall and Barboza Jr met in a mouth-watering super-lightweight conflict on the Co-op Area in Manchester, with the Briton seeking to win on dwelling soil.
There have been big stakes for the pair, with the winner to choose up the WBO interim title and a possible alternative to combat Teofimo Lopez subsequent for the total belt.
It was an intriguing chess-match, and a barely attainable contest to separate the fighters, because it had promised on paper.
Nevertheless it was Barboza who inflicted the upset on international soil, as he travelled over to the UK and grabbed a slim break up resolution win.
The scorecards learn 115-113 to Catterall, 115-113 to Barboza and the ultimate card at 115-113 within the favour of Barboza Jr.
He had no arguments and reviewed the outcome positively, decided to come back again stronger.
He mentioned: “Tough combat, shut combat. All credit score to him.
“I felt like I did sufficient to win.
“However I am straight again to the ring. Straight again to it.”
Catterall started the combat boxing nicely and utilizing the jab to manage the early vary, with a chess-match like opening spherical unfolding in Manchester.
Barboza began the extra aggressive of the 2, beginning to shut the hole and discover the goal within the exchanges.
El Gato’s left hand began to seek out the mark within the second, with Barboza restricted and affected person in his work however gathering momentum.
However the third spherical noticed the pair begin to open up with the American rising into the competition and touchdown his greatest work.
The fourth and fifth rounds sparked into motion because the pair began to open up and commerce with extra regularity, with Barboza himself turning the screw once more.
Catterall confirmed some swelling on his face because the halfway level approached, with Barboza stepping ahead in bursts because the Briton regarded to catch him as he got here in together with his trademark counter punching.
It was barely attainable to separate the pair because the rounds ticked down, with Barboza maybe narrowly touchdown the extra eye-catching work as each fighters regarded to dictate the tempo.
The British fighter began to get the sting and combat the goal extra because the championship rounds approached, boxing with fluidity and composure whereas staying out of vary.
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Catterall thought he had dropped Barboza within the tenth interval, nevertheless it was a tangle of legs that was noticed by the referee and a knockdown wasn’t awarded.
A troublesome combat to attain continued, however the motion lastly heated up within the eleventh because the pair tried their greatest to catch the attention of the judges.
It was virtually unimaginable to separate the pair because the bell sounded for the ultimate stanza, and each fighters raised their hand after yet one more backwards and forwards spherical.
The victor, Barboza Jr, now has the prospect to face Lopez, however the champion has expressed little curiosity in going through the winner of the conflict tonight.
The division king is set to face Richardson Hitchins as an alternative, and his subsequent combat might sensationally happen in Alcatraz jail in the summertime.
It might be the primary ever combat within the venue, a singular record-breaking expertise which might considerably enhance the profile of the fighters concerned.
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