Body shots were the key for Zelfa Barrett in a win over Jordan Gill.
Zelfa Barrett picked up a big win in Manchester, stopping Jordan Gill in the 10th round of a very competitive super featherweight main event on DAZN.
Barrett (31-2, 17 KO) dropped Gill (28-3-1, 9 KO) twice in the 10th round due to body shots, and was able to secure the stoppage at 2:44 when referee John Latham called a halt to the bout.
It’s a key victory in sort of a make-or-break fight for the 30-year-old Barrett, who has now won three in a row since his 2022 loss to Shavkat Rakhimov in a world title fight, this one by far the biggest of the trio.
“It was vital, do-or-die, really. If I get beat tonight, where would I go?” Barrett said after the fight. “Gill, man. Tough, tough, tough fighter. He pushed me, man. This guy ain’t shot, this guy ain’t done. Top fighter. … We worked on the body, we worked hard.”
For Gill, 29, it’s another tough setback in what has been a career full of memorable nights and good fights, win or lose.
“What a fantastic fighter,” Gill said of Barrett. “I didn’t know if he was world class or not, he proved to me he was world class. He’s a great guy, got a great team behind him, and I genuinely hope he goes on to win that world title.
“I thought the fight could have gone either way up to that point. But the more I pushed, I opened myself up to them body shots. I’ll always get up, you know me, I haven’t got any quit in me. But I couldn’t find a way back in.”
On the undercard, Ellie Scotney unified the IBF and WBO super bantamweight titles, defeating Segolene Lefebvre by unanimous decision. Judges scored the fight 96-94, 97-93, and 99-91, with the last one a bit wide for most tastes.
In another world title bout, Rhiannon Dixon won the vacant WBO lightweight title, beating Karen Elizabeth Carabajal over 10 rounds on scores of 96-93, 97-92, and 98-91.
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