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Hamzah Shiraz escaped with a narrow points win on the Anthony Joshua v Christian Prenga undercard in Saudi Arabia on Saturday, while Josh Kelly overcame a horrific knock to his nose.
Londoner Shiraz, who won his first world title with a second-round stoppage win over Alem Bezic to claim the vacant WBO super-middleweight crown in Egypt, defeated Germany’s Simon Zachenhuber.
After a 12-round fight that ended with boos around the arena, the judges returned the scores 114-114, 115-113 and 116-112 in favor of Shiraz, who posed with Jacob Banks in the ring after his victory.
“I’m a champion in the division. I’m sure people are still a little champ after (my) performance,” said Shiraz, who said he will be sitting ringside on Oct. 31 to watch Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez challenge for Christian Mbili’s WBC belt.
“I got the win, that’s all that matters. I can make a million excuses. I’ll be better in the next fight.
“I needed to step up now, someone who would present a challenge mentally. I would switch off sometimes, I was very comfortable when there was no threat in front of me.”
A bloodied Josh Kelly wins his IBF World Super Welterweight title fight against Kaohin Aggarko
Josh Kelly overcame a horrific scar near his nose as he scored a unanimous points win over Irishman Caoimhin Agairko in their IBF light-middleweight title fight in Saudi Arabia.
Nicknamed ‘Pretty Boy’, Kelly was left bloodied as the pair clashed heads with the Brit in the face in the 11th round.
But he did enough to win with a scorecard of 115-112, 115-112, 114-113.
“I told Kaoimhin, don’t take it as a loss, take it as a lesson. If he wants it bad enough, he’ll come back,” Kelly said.
Agyarko said: “I thought I won it, but if it’s not good enough for the judges, I’ll take it. I’m heartbroken, I wanted to make history. Josh Kelly is a class act, but I think he underestimated me a bit.
“Listen, it will come. I’ll be the first Black Irish World Champion, no doubt about it.”
After the fight, Kelly said he wanted to face unified 154-pound champion Jarron ‘Boots’ Ennis.
Promoter Eddie Hearn, who represents both Kelly and Ennis, said a clash between the two in the state is now a real option.
“He defended the title and before that imperative comes again, you really want to look at those big money fights and try to roll the dice,” Hearn said.
“I think it comes with ‘Boots’ Ennis. If I’m Josh Kelly, I’m looking at a big payday in America against ‘Boots’ Ennis. It’s a three-belt unification fight. (WBC champion) Sebastian Fundora, all those guys.”
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