Janibek “Qazaq Style” Alimjhanuly won on a hard-fought unanimous 12-round points decision over Denzel Bentley to retain his WBO middleweight belt on Saturday night inside the Pearl Concert Theater at Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas.
The rank outsider Bentley surprised the critics as he pushed the defending champion all the way. Some betting sites had the champion at 20 to 1.
The scores were 118-110 and 116-112 twice.
This was the first defence for Alimjhanuly, who was elevated from an interim champion when the reigning champion Demetrius Andrade elected to vacate the belt and move up to middleweight rather than meet him.
Bentley gave the favourite Alimjhanuly all he could handle through the entire fight.
Alimkhanuly finally rocked Bentley in the last round. The scores were 116-112, 116-112, and 118-110.
Alimkhanuly improved his record to 13-0; 8 and Bentley’s record dropped to 17-2-1; 14.
SPARK WINS ON A DISQUALIFICATION
In a junior welterweight bout, Steve Spark (16-2; 14) won on a sixth-round disqualification against Montana Love at the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland, Ohio on Saturday night to claim the WBA Intercontinental title.
Spark dropped Love in round two, but after a clash of heads in the sixth round, Love was cut above the right eye.
Subsequently, they wrestled in the ring and Spark went over the top rope.
Love was disqualified by the referee. The time was 0:25.
ESTRADA RETAINS WBA FEMALE BELT
WBA female minimumweight champion Seniesa “Super Bad” Estrada (23-0; 9) won on a 10-round unanimous decision over Jazmin Gala Villarino (6-3-2; 1) inside the Pearl Concert Theater at Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas.
JONES WINS IBF BELT IN A UNIFICATION MATCHUP
WBC/WBO female junior middleweight champion Natasha Jonas (13-2-1; 8) won the IBF belt against Marie-Eve Dicaire (18-2; 1) on a 10-round unanimous points decision in a unification matchup at the AO Arena in Manchester, England.
The scores were 100-90, 98-92 and 97-93.
In an exhibition match, Ricky “The Hitman” Hatton, 44 and “The Baby-Faced Assassin” Marco Antonio Barrera, 48, fought over eight two-minute rounds.
British junior welterweight champion Dalton Smith (13-0; 10) scored a 12-round unanimous points decision over Kaisee Benjamin (16-2-1; 6). The scores were 117-112, 116-113 and 115-114.
2020 Olympic super heavyweight bronze medallist Frazer Clarke (4-0; 3) won on points over six rounds against Kamil Sokolowski (11-27-3; 4). The scores were 60-54.
CABRERA WINS ON A STOPPAGE
In a lightweight bout, Misael Cabrera (13-1; 10) won on a stoppage against Jonathan “Perita” Escobedo (10-4-1; 4) when the fight was stopped by the ring doctor due to a swelling of Escobedo’s left eye, on Friday night at the GNP Seguros Arena in Acapulco, Guerrero, Mexico. Cabrera won the vacant WBC International title.
On the same card, super middleweight Lester Martinez (14-0; 12) won on a third-round technical knockout against Cristian Fabian Rios (23-16-3; 7). The bout was stopped due to a cut suffered by Rios.
BALL WINS IN FIRST ROUND
WBC No 14-ranked featherweight Nick Ball (17-0; 10) won on a first-round stoppage over Jesus Ramirez Rubio (20-2-3; 14) to retain his WBC silver title on Friday night at the York Hall in London.
Rubio was down three times before the fight was stopped at 1:48.
In a light heavyweight fight, Willy Hutchinson (15-1; 11) won on a seventh-round stoppage over Luca Spadaccini (8-5-3; 4).
Heavyweight David Adeleye (10-0; 9) stopped Elvis Garcia (9-4; 7) in the second round.