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Undefeated boxer Shabaz Masoud extended his 12-0 winning streak to win the WBA Intercontinental super bantamweight belt. Shabaz Masoud won by a narrow decision over Jose Sanmartin in a ten-round super bantamweight fight.
The pair were scheduled to fight three weeks ago but Masoud withdrew during fight week after falling ill. Masoud has been touted as a potential world champion in the future, but this is a step up in quality for the man from Stoke.
Masoud’s best win – a twelfth round stoppage of Jack Bateson – came exactly a year ago. Colombia’s Sanmartin mixed in well, losing to the likes of Mauricio Lara and Emmanuel Navarette.
Sanmartin charged forward in his usual aggressive manner and proved to be a brute physical force inside. Masoud did not force him to pay a high price to reach that range. After two rounds, Sanmartin managed to make it the kind of fight he wanted.
Masoud continually pedaled backwards to his left, looking to deliver Sanmartin to his southpaw, but the reverse movement invited Sanmartin to move forward and build momentum and he didn’t keep his foot down long enough to put weight on his punches.
Masoud started hitting harder in the fourth quarter which helped him withstand Sanmartin’s attacks – one left uppercut caught the eye – but the Colombian came close again in the fifth, easily getting past Masoud’s jab and looking to get inside. Sanmartin holed Masoud, but he applied constant pressure and appeared to win the round despite just doing the work.
Masoud defended a little stronger in the sixth quarter and scored with some good short shots but started to receive warnings for pushing Sanmartin with his arm. Finally, he told Sanmartin to throw punches before releasing his punches. Masoud still gave up voluntarily too often, but Sanmartin’s results began to decline.
Sanmartin seems to have read the riot act to him after the seventh incident. He came out with added aggression and pushed Masoud around the ring for most of the round. Masoud seemed to have the will to keep the fight at his desired distance, but his jab was almost non-existent and the uppercuts that could have been used to make Sanmartin think twice about going inside were too rarely used.
Sanmartin wasn’t particularly fast or inventive but he was relentless. Masoud survived another warning for the use of his elbows in the ninth round without dropping a point and Sanmartin finished the round strong.
Masoud needed a strong tenth round but pedaled back while Sanmartin surged forward, full of enthusiasm. Sanmartin threw the same short hooks he threw in the first round, but Masoud still couldn’t find a solution. Masoud put his foot down in the final minute and refused to be denied but although he made some good counter-attacks, he was too inactive.
The fight went to the scorecards and Masoud was awarded a controversial narrow points victory. Jesus Morata Garcia delivered a 96-94 win for Sanmartin but was undone by two cards in Masoud’s favor. Luigi Boscarelli delivered the win 98-92 and Michael Alexander won Masoud with a score of 96-94. Masoud, who is now 12-0 with 4 knockouts, has the WBA Intercontinental belt and Sanmartin will find it very difficult, especially with the 98-92 scorecards.
(aww)