#1 Arnold Barboza Jr. (32-0, 11 KOs) edged #2 Jack Catterall (30-2, 13 KOs), winning a 12-round split decision to capture the WBO interim light welterweight title on Saturday night in their headliner clash at the Co-op Live Arena in Manchester, England.
The scores:
115-113 – Barboza
115-113 – Catterall
115-113 – Barboza
Catterall failed to aggressively enough to impress the judges, as he was retreating all night around the ring when under attack by Barboza Jr. Rarely did Catterall come forward to initiate, and he looked like he was doing the minimum, hoping to win a cheap decision.
Results
– British and Commonwealth super featherweight champion Reece Bellotti (20-5, 15 KOs) stopped Michael Gomez Jr. (21-2, 6 KOs) in the tenth round to retain his two titles in the cco-feature bout on tonight’s card. Gomez Jr’s corner had the fight stopped in the first second of the tenth round. The time of the stoppage was 0:01 of the tenth. Belloti dropped Gomez in rounds five and eight.
– WBO Intercontinental welterweight champion Pat McCormack (7-0, 5 KOs) scored a sixth-round retirement stoppage of Robbie Davies Jr. (24-6, 15 KOs). The 2020 Olympic silver medalist McCormack, 29, knocked Davies Jr. down twice in round three and another time in the fifth. At the end of the sixth, Davies Jr’s corner chose to have the fight stopped. The time of the stoppage was at 3:00 of round six.
– Super featherweight James ‘Jazza’ Dickens (35-5, 14 KOs) out-toughed Zelfa Barrett (31-3, 17 KOs), winning a 10-round unanimous decision. The scores were 97-93, 97-93 and 96-94. Jazza’s right eye was bruised and looked in bad shape by the end of the fight, but he didn’t let it affect his nonstop attack-oriented style. Where Barrett went wrong was trying to box, and it was no match for the heavy output from Dickens.
Barboza Jr. (31-0, 11 KOs) has all the talent, size, and power to neutralize the fighting style Catterall uses to finesse his way to victories against more powerful opposition. This is not a good matchup for Jack to be fighting this kind of talent, and it could end badly for him tonight unless he gets lucky with the scoring.
