Josh Warrington earns hard-fought victory over Kid Galahad to retain IBF world featherweight title

Josh Warrington successfully retained his IBF featherweight title with a narrow, hard-fought victory over Yorkshire rival Kid Galahad in Leeds.

Putting the belt he won from Lee Selby and defended against Carl Frampton during a fairytale 2018 on the line for a second time at First Direct Arena on Saturday night, the home favourite was below par in a scrappy contest but eventually triumphed via split decision.

The indefatigable Warrington was frustrated by the clinch-happy and cool mandatory challenger for long periods, unable to compete at his usual fast tempo.

Undefeated Sheffield native Galahad did an excellent job of largely controlling pace and territory, but ultimately did not appear to land enough clean punches during several very close rounds in a fight that was difficult to score.

"I knew it was close but thought I was doing the cleaner work," Warrington, now looking at a unification fight in the US, said after improving his unblemished professional record to 29-0.

"I'm glad I've done the business and I have still got the belt. I think I did enough to nick it in the last two rounds because it was nip and tuck but you cannot win a title by hitting pot shots.

"They are not going to all be pretty and I'm glad I got through it, so hopefully there is a unification fight next."

On the undercard, Manchester's Zelfa Barrett claimed the vacant Commonwealth super-featherweight title with an impressive points victory over Leon Woodstock Jr.

JJ Metcalf took the vacant Commonwealth super-welterweight belt and moved to 20-0 after stopping former world title challenger Jason Wellborn with a brutal left hook to the body in round eight.

Shakiel Thompson earned a comfortable middleweight victory against Alistair Warren, while there were also wins for Jack Bateson, Mark Heffron and Lyndon Arthur.

However, Liverpool heavyweight Alex Dickinson was defeated on points by Kamil Sokolowski of Poland.

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