Untitled Shabaz Masoud upset junior featherweight Liam Davies, winning a 12-round split decision at the Resorts World Arena in Birmingham, England.
Masoud used his hand and foot speed and lateral movement to constantly take away Davies’ physical strength to claim the bragging rights for the Queensberry Promotions spot on TNT Sports. Masoud took the win with scores of 116-112, 115-113 and a stunning 115-113 for Davies.
Masoud (14-0, 4 knockouts), who defeated Davies twice when the two were rookies, quickly began to dictate how they would go about it, always catching Davies (16-1, 8 KOs) with his left hand. .
Sharp, brilliant work from Masoud, who was cheered on by a fired-up crowd, much to the chagrin of Davies, who was stripped of a point for using an elbow in Round 2.
Go to the fight Davies, who entered the fight ranked 5th by The Ring, was about to fight in the Ring with the undefeated champion of 122, Naoya Inoue but he let the bad blood get in his way and he couldn’t even concentrate, which allowed. Masoud to win several rounds in the first half. His case was not helped by a round 4 headlock.
Meanwhile, Masoud, 28, remained calm and played matador with the bull, headbutting Davies and although he never hurt Davies, he accumulated points.
Davies finally got the fight in Round 6, where his pressure and his aggression.
Davies threatened to return to the fight but Masoud ended the mini-revival with a good punch in Round 10.
Davies was interested in the championship round and while he was successful, so was Masoud, who ended up with the best medal of his career.
“This has been happening for a long time, everyone has been doubting me for years,” said Masoud. “This is my time, Liam had his, he is a great fighter. I respect him, I didn’t talk too much in the build.
“I will leave it with my team and what they say will follow. We put everything on the line for everyone.”
Davies said disappointed after that.
“Well done Shabaz, well done to him,” said Davies. “I wish you luck. I’ll be back, I’ll enjoy Christmas with my family. It’s hard to take but boxing. I’ll be back. This is not the end of me.”
Hall of Fame promoter Frank Warren spoke about Davies’ future.
“He will come back and fight again,” said Warren. “It takes two players to fight a big fight and both should be proud of themselves. It was a smart fight, a really competitive fight.”
WBC Interim junior welterweight champion Chantelle Cameron has kept herself in the hunt for a rubber match with Katie Taylor who has a big show against former junior middleweight champion Patricia Bergult.
Cameron, formerly of The Ring and former junior welterweight champion, won his second fight since losing to Taylor. The 33-year-old won by unanimous decision: 100-90, 99-91, 98-92.
Cameron (20-1, 8 KOs) very much had things his way and although he hurt Bergult (17-2, 4 KOs) several times during their fight he was unable to force a stoppage.
“I think I’m pretty impressed,” Cameron said. “I’m still learning, I’m not a finished article.”
“I’m still going to keep my eyes on that fight (Katie Taylor-Amanda Serrano on November 15) but this is boxing and I can avoid it but there are other big fights that we face. Whatever happens happens.”
Former British and Commonwealth welterweight title holder Ekou Essuman (21-1, 8 KOs) won a 10 round bloody majority decision over Ben Vaughan (10-1, 3 KOs).
The two threw punches but it was Essuman, 35, who settled matters 97-94, 97-93 and 95-95.
The Botswana-born, now Nottingham-based fighter called out IBF 147-pound belt holder Jaron “Boots” Ennis in a post-fight interview.
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