Jack Catterall made a welterweight debut, and in a forgettable fight, he took the WBA International and IBF Intercontinental titles with a technical decision win against Harlem Eubank at the AO Arena in Manchester on Saturday.
Catterall (31-2, 13 KOs) was coming off a loss in a bid for the WBO interim super lightweight title last time out, as he was on the wrong end of a split decision to Arnold Barboza Jr in February. Eubank (21-1, 9 KOs) broke down Tyrone McKenna, dropping the Irishman three times before scoring a tenth-round stoppage in his most recent appearance.
Catterall landed with a couple of decent left hands in an otherwise quiet opener, and it was cat and mouse stuff in the early going.
The visitor connected with a solid right hand in the fourth as he found his best punch of the fight to date, but the action was sporadic, with the styles not particularly gelling.
The talking point of the fight came a round later, with both men cut from a clash of heads and Catterall’s eyebrow showing nasty damage.
With both fighters checked by the doctor, the bout was eventually waved off at the start of round seven after inspection to Eubank’s eye, and the pair left their fate to the judges.
Two scores of 69-66, and a third at 69-65 confirmed victory for the 32-year-old home favourite.
Cordina battles past Quiroz
On the undercard, Joe Cordina moved up to lightweight after losing his IBF super featherweight title to Anthony Cacace last year, and the Welshman took the vacant WBO Global title with a clear points win against Jaret Gonzalez Quiroz (17-2, 13 KOs).
Cordina (18-1, 9 KOs) controlled the action in the main, and he was declared a worthy winner by scores of 100-90, 99-91 and 98-92.
Brown blasts out Oakford
Pat Brown (3-0, 3 KOs) impressed once again, and the former Team GB member needed just over two minutes to stop Lewis Oakford (6-3) in their cruiserweight clash set for eight.
Remaining Undercard
Aqib Fiaz was a winner in the other ten-rounder on the bill, as he took a points win against Alex Murphy (13-2) at lightweight.
It was a competitive contest, and Fiaz (14-1, 2 KOs) ran out the winner by scores of 97-93, 96-94 and 96-95.
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In other eight-rounders, Skye Nicolson (13-1, 2 KOs) returned to winning ways after losing her WBC featherweight title last time out, and she dropped to super bantamweight to stop Carla Camila Camps Gonzales (9-4, 8 KOs) of Bolivia in two rounds.
William Crolla (8-1, 6 KOs) suffered a first pro defeat, as he was stopped in six rounds in an upset loss to Fraser Wilkinson (12-2, 3 KOs).
The sole six-rounder came at super middleweight, where Niall Brown (16-0, 6 KOs) forced Victor Ionascu (14-7, 10 KOs) to retire after four rounds, having been floored in the opening round and in the fourth.
In four rounders, Leo Atang (1-0, 1 KO) made an eagerly-anticipated debut, and the heavyweight dispatched of Milen Paunov (7-16, 5 KOs) in the opening round and featherweight hope Alfie Middlemiss (4-0) was a points winner over Mohammed Wako (1-6).
