Jack Catterall was denied a shot on the world title after suffering a loss of decision divided against Arnold Barboza Jr in Manchester.
Catterall had sought to win a compulsory fight for the WBO super-lingers of Teofimo Lopez, but Barboza Jr preceded it on dashboards, winning three 115-113 accounts to secure the WBO temporary belt and a fight with his compatriot.
The two fighters appreciated success spells during a narrow meeting, Barboza Jr relieved that referee Steve Gray considered a shift after falling on the canvas on the turn 10.
Catterall could not reduce the small deficit on the dashboards when he suffered his second defeat from a very controversial defeat against Josh Taylor in 2022.
On the Undercard, Reece Bellotti defended her British superpume weight titles and the Commonwealth with a 10th round stop victory against Michael Gomez Jr.
Reece Bellotti broke the resistance of Michael Gomez Jnr
Bellotti was forced to wait for Gomez Jr, who had retired due to poor health during the night of their previously planned fight.
But Bellotti continued his career resurgence by leading to Gomez JNR with body shots in the fifth and eighth rounds before the Lancashire boxer was removed by his corner team before the 10th.
Daniel Dubois against Joseph Parker and Artur Beterbiev against Dmitry Bivo will be live on Saturday February 22 at Sky Sports Box Office. Book now!
