Unheralded Shabaz Masoud upset world-ranked junior featherweight Liam Davies by winning a 12-round split decision at the Resorts World Arena in Birmingham, England.
Masoud used hand and foot speed as well as lateral movement to constantly offset Davies’ physical strength to claim local bragging rights on a Queensberry Promotions show on TNT Sports. Masoud was victorious with scores of 116-112, 115-113 and a surprising 115-113 for Davies.
Masoud (14-0, 4 KOs), who beat Davies twice when the two were amateurs, started quickly and controlled the early onslaught, frequently catching an overeager Davies (16-1, 8 KOs) with his left hand .
The sharper, flashier work came from Masoud, who was cheered on by a fervent crowd, much to Davies’ frustration, to the extent that he was given a point for using his elbow in Round 2.
Entering the fight 5 times through The Ring, Davies was in the mix for a fight with Ring and undisputed 122-pound champion Naoya Inoue, but he let the bad blood get to him and lacked focus, which allowed Masoud to win many of the rounds in the first half. His cause was not helped by a cut from a clash of heads in Round 4.
Meanwhile, Masoud (28) remained calm and played matador to the bull that pinged Davies’ head back and although he never hurt Davies, he piled up the points.
Davies finally got a foothold in the fight in Round 6, when his pressure and continued aggression.
Davies threatened to get back into contention, but Masoud ended a mini-resurgence by boxing well in Round 10.
Davies was desperate in the championship rounds and while he had his successes, so did Masoud, who ended up taking a career best win.
“It was a long time coming, everyone doubted me for years,” Masoud said. “This is my moment, Liam has had his, he is a great fighter. I respect him, I didn’t say much in the build-up.
“I’m going to leave it to my team and whatever they say goes next. We’re putting it all on the line for everyone.”
A disappointed Davies spoke afterwards.
“Well done Shabaz, fair play to him,” Davies said. “I wish you all the best. I’ll be back, I’m going to enjoy Christmas with my family. It’s hard to take, but it’s boxing. I will be back. This is not the end of me.”
Hall of Fame promoter Frank Warren addressed the future for Davies.
“He’s going to come back and fight again,” Warren said. “It takes two fighters to put up a good fight and they should both be very proud of themselves. It was a brilliant fight, a really competitive fight.”
WBC Interim junior welterweight titleholder Chantelle Cameron kept herself in the hunt for a rubber match with Katie Taylor with a dominant performance against former junior middleweight champion Patricia Bergult.
Formerly The Ring and undisputed junior welterweight champion, Cameron won her second fight since losing to Taylor. The 33-year-old won a lopsided unanimous decision: 100-90, 99-91, 98-92.
Cameron (20-1, 8 KOs) largely had things her own way and although she hurt Bergult (17-2, 4 KOs) several times during their fight, she was unable to land the stoppage.
“I think I made a big impression,” Cameron said. “I’m still learning, I’m not the finished article.”
“I’m going to keep my eyes on that fight (Katie Taylor-Amanda Serrano on November 15) but this is boxing and I can be avoided, but there are other big fights that we have there for me. Whatever happens, happens.”
Former British and Commonwealth welterweight titleholder Ekou Essuman (21-1, 8 KOs) won a blood-soaked 10-round majority decision over Ben Vaughan (10-1, 3 KOs).
The two exchanged punches throughout, but it was Essuman (35) who settled matters 97-94, 97-93 and 95-95.
The Botswana-born fighter, who now lives in Nottingham, called out IBF 147-pound belt holder Jaron “Boots” Ennis in the post-fight interview.
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