Britain’s Josh Kelly put on a slick and brave performance to beat Bakhram Murtazaliev and win the IBF light-middleweight title by majority decision in Newcastle.
It was a trademark Kelly display as he danced around the ring, displaying devastating speed and high ring IQ – knowing when to engage and when to get on his heels.
Both fighters hit the canvas with Murtazaliev going down in the fourth and Kelly in the ninth. The Briton went down a further two times late in the fight, but both were ruled as slips.
Two judges scored the bout 115-111 and 114-113 in Kelly’s favour with the other having it down as a 113-113 draw.
Murtazaliev looked to have got to grips with Kelly’s evasive style in the latter rounds, but the home fighter rallied in the last three minutes to end strongly.
Kelly, who becomes Sunderland’s first world champion, sprinted to embrace trainer Adam Booth when the result was announced before grabbing the belt and raising it up to the 4,000-strong crowd.
“It feels like a dream. I envisioned this,” Kelly told BBC Radio 5 Live.
“I was praying a couple of days ago, envisioned the fight, and I had deja vu of the knockdown in the tenth round.
“I had to concentrate – I feel overwhelmed. I need to take a second backstage to gather myself. I’m mentally exhausted.”
