Paddy Barnes moved to 4-0 in the World Series of Boxing this morning with a unanimous decision victory over Temirtas Zhussupoy.
The Belfast light-flyweight maintained his undefeated streak in a hard-fought battle with the hometown favourite in Kazakhstan.
The decision was not as comfortable a one as Italia Thunder’s Barnes would have hoped for as he struggled to put his stamp on rounds three and five but took the fight on every judge’s scorecard regardless.
The card was not quite as fruitful for Barnes’ stablemate Mick Conlan who fell victim to a farcical finish during his bout against Kairat Yeraliyev when the fight was stopped in the final round after a clash of heads and the judge’s decision went the way of the Kazakh.
Barnes’ ability to get past arguably his toughest fight of the WSB season would suggest that he’s a banker to reach Rio 2016 while Conlan’s defeat makes life difficult for the Belfast bantamweight.
That being said, the amateurs have certainly whet our appetite for Carl Frampton’s defence of his IBF super-bantamweight title tonight against Chris Avalos.
