Burnett Crowned IBF Champ In Belfast

Ryan Burnett, 17-0-(9), claimed the IBF bantamweight crown at the SSE Arena in Belfast, Northern Ireland on Saturday night by out-pointing champion Lee Haskins, 34-4-(14) over 12 rounds. Two judges, Jerry Jukubo and Dave Parris, scored a wide 119-107 for Burnett but the third official, Clark Sammartino, somehow scored the bout 118-108 for Haskins despite the Bristol based boxer being put down in the sixth and 11^th rounds. One can only assume the Clark got the fighters mixed up or put the scores in the wrong boxes on the score sheet.

Burnet dominated the bout from the opening bell by stunning Haskins with fast and accurate right hands but the bout very nearly ended prematurely when a head clash left both fighters with nasty cuts that hampered their progression.

Other results from Belfast

Vacant IBF east/west Europe lightweight title Paul Hyland Jnr w tko 1 Adam Dingsdale

vacant WBA International super featherweight title James Tennyson w rtd 6 Ryan Doyle

vacant Irish Cruiserweight title Luke Watkins w ko 4 Ian Tims

Super Welterweight Paddy Gallagher w tko 3 Craig Kelly

Super Featherweight Feargal McCrory w tko 2 Paul Holt

Cruiserweight Mike Perez w ko 1 Viktor Biscak

Bantamweight Sean McGoldrick w pts 6 Ricky Starkey

Welterweight Matthew Wilton w pts 6 William Warburton

Featherweight Tyrone McCullagh w pts 4 Jose Aguilar

Super Middleweight Padraig McCrory w pts 4 Jacob Lucas

Featherweight Sean Magee w tko 1 Jules Phillips