Saturday 23 February 2019 21:36, UK
Lee Selby sealed a gritty points win over Omar Douglas, despite sustaining cuts over both his eyes on his lightweight debut at The O2 on Saturday night.
The Welshman's face was covered in blood for most of the fight, but he displayed his superior skills over the closing rounds to complete a unanimous decision victory over the American with scores of 116-112, 116-112 and 115-114.
Selby has moved up two weight divisions after losing his IBF featherweight belt in a May points defeat to Josh Warrington, but has staked his claim for a major bout against his new rivals at 135lbs.
The crude intentions of Douglas were made clear in the opening round as he bullied Selby from the first bell, unloading big left hooks.
Selby was given more cause for concern in the second when a nasty cut opened over his left eye, the very same injury that hampered his vision during his world title defeat to Warrington.
Despite that gaping wound, Selby still showed sharp counter punches, landing his accurate overhand right and clever left uppercuts as Douglas marauded forward.
Douglas still posed problems with his relentless pressure and Selby sustained another gash over his right eye.
But the 32-year-old maintained his composure, picking off Douglas with eye-catching shots to earn a hard-fought verdict from the three judges.
