O’Shaquie Foster defended his WBC junior lightweight world title with a split decision over Abraham Nova on Friday evening at The Theater at Madison Square Garden.
One judge had it 113-114 in Nova’s favour, but was overruled by scores of 115-112 and 116-111 for Foster.
After studying each other with jabs and feints in the early rounds, Foster began to take control at round six and seven, landing power shots on a Nova who was beginning to fade.
Foster hurt Nova with a series of chopping right hands in the ninth to begin widening his lead and punctuated his performance by dropping him with a left hook in the final round.
“I don’t want to make any excuses, but when I went to throw a right hand his elbow hit the middle of my bicep, so it kind of tightened my stuff up. But it’s all good,” Foster said on his performance.
“My rhythm was off tonight. It’s all good. We came home with the win, so I can’t complain. I’m a 12-round fighter and I know how to make judgements through the fight. So, he came on strong in the beginning, but I found my rhythm and his timing, and then I started picking it off.”
Foster mentioned potential opponents for his third title defence, hoping to unify the junior lightweight division.
“Navarrete is busy. I’ll take on Lamont Roach Jr. or the winner of Oscar Valdez vs. Liam Wilson.”
Reflecting on his defeat Nova was praiseful over his opponent, but insisted he slipped in the 12th round, which proved pivotal.
“O’Shaquie is a great fighter. He did hit me, but I did slip (in the 12th round), said Nova.
“I lost my balance. I wasn’t hurt. The fight would have been a draw if that hadn’t happened. This is boxing. I know they probably think I wasn’t that good. But you guys see I’m a great fighter.
“Hopefully you guys can see me here again. I’m a world-class contender. O’Shaquie, we can run it back. Let’s do it again. If not, I can fight Navarrete or anybody,” Nova added.
Carrington impresses in front of home crowd
On the undercard, featherweight phenom Bruce “Shu Shu” Carrington landed a right hand from his hip pocket that put Bernard Torres down and out for the count in the fourth round.
Shu Carrington landed a fourth-round knockout punch against Bernard Torres in front of his home fans
Carrington (11-0, 7 KOs) from Brownsville, Brooklyn, followed up his 2023 Prospect of the Year campaign with an early contender for Knockout of the Year.
Torres (18-2, 8 KOs) collapsed face-first to the canvas, and referee Charlie Fitch wasted no time in waving off the fight.
“It always means the world to perform in front of my home crowd. New York City. Madison Square Garden. Y’all make me want to turn up every time. Every single time I fight here I get a knockout. Every time I fight here, I get a stoppage, said Carrington.
“I felt that he leaned into the punch, and it landed at the right place with the right leverage. But he’s a tough competitor. He’s a really good guy. I liked how he uses his feet. He uses his angles well and knows how to get out of certain situations. But we were ready for everything.”