Telford's Shabaz Masoud turns on style to land a classy victory
Shabaz Masoud recorded the best win of his career with a 12-round stoppage of Jack Bateson in Sheffield.
The super-bantamweight, who started out at Wellington Boxing Academy in Telford, put on a stunning performance to claim the WBA intercontinental belt, writes Liam Keen.
The bout also acted as an eliminator for the British title, which could mean Masoud will soon face Telford’s Liam Davies, who holds the title.
Masoud was too slick for the 17-0 unbeaten Bateson as he outclassed the fighter from Leeds in a dominant display, to take his record to 11-0.
After a tight opening two rounds, Masoud took control in the third. He worked behind his jab to perfection and walked Bateson on to several dangerous left hooks.
Masoud also landed numerous painful body shots and survived a short Bateson revival in round nine, before turning on the style in the latter rounds.
He dropped Bateson in the last round with a swift left uppercut, before dropping him again shortly after, which the referee ruled as a slip. Masoud opened up and Bateson was unable to defend himself, which forced referee Howard Foster into stopping the bout with a minute of the fight remaining.
Masoud said: “I have been working years for this, there have been struggle but this is just the start.
“I believe I am world level, Jack is world level too, but this fight was called at the right time.
“There is more to come from me and whatever my team say is next, we will go for. But I will beat the lot of them.”
