Sunday 19 May 2019 00:35, UK
Billy Joe Saunders became a two-weight world champion after dominating Shefat Isufi in Stevenage on Saturday night.
The Hertfordshire man controlled things from start to finish before scores of 120-108, 117-111 and 118-110 saw him claim the vacant WBO super-middleweight title at the Lamex Stadium.
Previously a world champion at middleweight, Saunders, under the guidance of Ben Davison, improves his record to 28-0.
Isufi came into the contest on a 10-fight win streak but was soon overawed by the technical skills of his British foe, struggling to get any sort of foothold in the match.
It was a boxing masterclass for the first five rounds, complete one-way traffic, a sheer gap in ability increasingly obvious, the home favourite putting on a clinic.
Suddenly though, Saunders was rocked in the sixth, a crunching left buckling his legs, the fight sparked into life, but the Brit quickly regained his senses and from there, staying out of danger, he danced his way to the finish.
Elsewhere on the card, Joe Joyce continued his march up the heavyweight rankings with a third-round stoppage win over Alexander Ustinov.
