Ringside Report: Shabaz Masoud Beats Jose Sanmartin By Split Decision in Newcastle

Ringside Report: Shabaz Masoud Beats Jose Sanmartin By Split Decision in Newcastle

By Matt Elliott

Shabaz Masoud won a split decision victory against Jose Sanmartin last night as he returned to the ring following a twelve-month absence to win the vacant WBA intercontinental super-bantamweight title. Two judges scored it in Masoud’s favour, 98-92 and 96-94, with the third judge scoring it 96-94 for Sanmartin.

The fight, a last-minute addition to the NXTGEN card, following the cancellation of the original main event between Pat McCormack and Peter Dobson due to an injury to the former, marked Masoud’s debut for Matchroom after he agreed to a promotional deal earlier this year. It was a far from impressive start though as Masoud struggled to cope with Sanmartin’s style, the Colombian forcing him back from round one and landing the higher volume of shots, although Masoud arguably carried the greater power. His long absence was evident in his performance as he failed to gain any real momentum, and trainer Ben Davison let him know in no uncertain terms that he needed to win the final round to stand a chance. Masoud probably did enough to take that, and he got the nod from the judges, but he can count himself fortunate, especially with the 98-92 score, which was far too wide.  

Post-fight both Davison and Eddie Hearn were scathing of Masoud’s performance, making it clear that there could have been no arguments had the decision gone in Sanmartin’s favour and stressing that a big improvement is needed if he is to fulfil his potential of becoming a world champion.

The loudest support of the night was for Cameron Vuong who was at the top of the undercard and fighting in front of a home crowd for the first time in his second appearance as a professional. Vuong was caught early on by John Mosquera as he took some time to adjust, but from round three, he adapted and started to take control. Mosquera was never in trouble of being stopped, but Vuong can be happy with his performance as he took every round in a 40-36 points victory.  

Calum French returned to action following a shoulder operation but fell to a shock defeat, as he lost to Jeff Ofori. French started well enough, but Ofori got a grip on the fight from round three, and by the end of the fourth, French was bloodied, bruised, and slowly losing his way. Ofori took full advantage of French’s willingness to stand and trade, picking his shots superbly and in the final round, after seeing his man take more punishment, trainer Graeme Rutherford threw in the towel. A huge setback for French, who was hoping to make a statement performance.

Mark Dickinson stepped up to ten rounds for the first time, but only needed five as he defeated Grant Dennis in a one-sided affair to set up a potential English title fight against Brad Pauls. Dickinson forced the pace from the start, throwing some good combinations and looking impressive as he limited Dennis to the odd jab. In round five, he put Dennis down, and the man from Chatham barely beat the count, with the referee deciding he had seen enough and waving the fight off. It was a statement victory from Dickinson, with Dennis a durable opponent who went the distance against Caoimhin Agyarko last time out.  

In the battle of the unbeaten records, it was Ishmael Davis who was victorious, as Ewan Mackenzie’s corner threw the towel in during round eight. Davis caught Mackenzie early on, and the Jarrow man was bloodied after just thirty seconds. The power and accuracy of Davis’s shots were impressive as he built up an early lead, but Mackenzie showed tremendous heart as he worked his way back into contention, throwing a huge number of punches, but the power just wasn’t there, and as the fight entered the later rounds, it was obvious there was only going to be one winner. After Davis regained his momentum in round eight, the corner made the right decision in saving their man for another day, and Davis will now move on to fight for the English super welterweight title.

Ben Rees moved to 2-0-1 with a fifth-round stoppage win over Sadam Moamed Da Silva Caetano. Rees started the better but was rocked in the second with a flash knockdown. He recovered well though and picked up where he left off, landing some solid lefts and backing Caetano up. It was all over in the fifth, after a right-hand forced Caetano back into the corner, allowing Rees to unleash a barrage of shots, which eventually forced the referee to step in; a decision which could’ve come much earlier. In his post-fight interview, Rees acknowledged the key now is remaining active.

Jimmy Sains was impressive as he moved to 2-0 with a second-round stoppage against Jesus Lobeto. Sains jumped straight on his opponent, combining head and body shots well, with the latter undoubtedly hurting the Spaniard. The second round followed the same pattern, and with Lobeto sitting back on the ropes and shots starting to land with more frequency, Ron Kearney stepped in and rightly halted the contest.  

In the opening fight of the night, Owen Rees secured a fifth-round stoppage against Konrad Czajkowski. It was a lively affair from the start, with both men opting to choose attack over defence as they stood centre ring and traded. On more than one occasion, Rees landed a shot that rocked Czajkowsi back, leading referee Dean Wilson to fixate his eyes on the Polish man. When Rees landed another flurry midway through the fifth round, Wilson had seen enough and intervened. The stoppage arguably came too quickly, but the result was inevitable, and Rees moved to 2-0.

Photo Credit: Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing