Saturday 15 July 2017 23:20, UK
Lee Selby has retained his IBF world featherweight title after defeating Jonathan Victor Barros of Argentina by a unanimous decision at Wembley Arena on Saturday night.
The 30-year-old Welshman produced a masterful display to secure an emotional victory, just four days after his mother had passed away.
Selby capped his dominance by knocking out Barros in the final round and was a wide-margin winner on all three of the scorecards (119-108, 117-110, 117-110).
The champion was looking to make a third successful defence and was on top in the early stages, impressing with his quick movement and troubling Barros with his jab.
The Argentinean lost his balance and fell over in the fifth round, but by that stage he had begun to get something of a foothold in the fight.
And Selby was slowed when he suffered a cut above his right eye after an accidental clash of heads with his opponent.
Seemingly encouraged, Barros upped his work rate and had the better of the seventh but Selby was undaunted and soon settled back into his rhythm.
Sensing that he was behind on the scorecards, Barros looked to attack in the closing rounds but Selby remained quick on his feet and the challenger was unable to land many clean blows.
And instead, it was Barros who went down in the 12th as Selby capped a very accomplished performance with a powerful left hook.
Barros got up and bravely managed to reach the bell but there was no doubt about the result as Selby put himself in line to take on some of the biggest names in the division, with former WBA champion Carl Frampton a possible future opponent.
