At the Principality Stadium, in Cardiff, Ryan Burnett made a successful defence of his WBA world bantamweight title.
Burnett, from Northern Ireland, was having the nineteenth fight of his professional career and was taking on the WBA mandatory challenger in the shape of the Venezuelan fighter, Yonfrez Parejo.
Parejo, who had never fought in Europe, arrived on these shores with a record of just two defeats in twenty-four fights.
However, despite suffering a suspected fracture of the right-hand in an early round, Burnett was too good for Parejo, taking the verdict on the judges score-cards by the following margins;
? 120 ? 108
? 116 ? 112
and
? 120 – 108
Although Parejo showed he was a classy fighter, he couldn?t cope with the style and speed of Burnett who boxed both as an orthodox and a southpaw at times, accumulating the points with his swift and precise punching.
With a successful defence under his belt, there is talk of Burnett taking on the winner of the forthcoming fight between Jamie McDonnell and Naoya Inoue, which takes place in Japan in May.
However, the timing of that fight will, undoubtedly, depend on how quickly Burnett?s injured hand heals.
Burnett Retains WBA Title on Points
