Briton Josh Kelly was forced to dig deep to retain his IBF light-middleweight world title, surviving a spirited late comeback from Belfast’s Caoimhin Agyarko to win a narrow points decision in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Kelly looked in complete control until the complexion of the contest changed when he received a deserved sixth-round point deduction for repeated punches to the back of the head.
The 31-year-old was then bloodied by cuts across his face and a gash on his nose as Agyarko grew in confidence and began to land with increasing success.
But Kelly stood firm through the championship rounds to secure victory, with the judges scoring the contest 114-113, 115-112 and 115-112.
“That was a messy and hard fight. I didn’t get cuts from punches like this, it comes from heads and elbows. This is what it looks like when you’ve got tight skin,” Kelly said.
“I knew he [Agyarko] was go to be tricky and awkward. [He had] a good game plan. He tried to make it a good boxing match. I had to show a different side to me at the end and that is what a champions does.”
Fighting on the undercard of Anthony Joshua’s heavyweight comeback against Kristian Prenga, Sunderland’s Kelly claimed his 21st professional victory.
Agyarko, 29, had hoped to become Ireland’s first black world champion. Instead, despite a brave second-half comeback, he suffered the first defeat of his professional career in his 30th contest.
Also on the card, WBO super-middleweight champion Hamzah Sheeraz laboured to an underwhelming points win over Simon Zachenhuber.
The 27-year-old Briton was far from his best and struggled to find his rhythm but was awarded a majority decision as he extended his record to 24 wins and one defeat.