Puerto Rican junior middleweight Xander Zayas (20-0, 12 KO) wanted to end the Mayer vs. Ryan fight with a break, but the robust Damian Sosa (25-3, 12 KO) did not give up easily and pushed the team. The 22-year-old will settle for a unanimous decision to exclude (100-90, 3x).

Zayas quickly found his rhythm, already in the third round he relied on punches and responded to Sosa’s pressure with pointed counterattacks. Whenever Sosa attacked, Zayas responded with precise power shots, alternating between the body and the head.

In the middle rounds, Zayas had the complete advantage, hitting Sosa with a right hand in the sixth over. Despite trying to reach the finish line, Zayas was unable to push Sosa away as the Mexican fighter persevered until the final bell.

Zayas said: “He pushed me and took me to the next level. Now I feel like I’m ready. I felt like I was ready before. But now I think I’ve let everyone know I’m ready for elite names.

“Man, they said he threw 84 punches a round. I didn’t see it today. I did my job. Now I need to serene down, relax and see what my promoter wants. I want whoever is in the top five.”

Brooklyn-born featherweight Bruce Carrington took a hard-fought 10-round majority decision over Ugandan challenger Sulaiman Segawa by scores of 95-95 and 97-93, twice.

Segawa (17-5-1, 6 KO) entered the fight with increased confidence after his victory over Ruben Villa in July. He wanted to repeat this success against Carrington (13-0, 8 KO), catching him with quick counterattacks in the first rounds.

Carrington found his rhythm in the third and fourth rounds, charging forward with a concentrated, full-body attack. Segawa responded in the fifth, however, and the two rushed back and forth, jockeying for position and exchanging single shots while avoiding counterattacks.

Segawa landed more punches throughout the fight (416-358), although he gave up in the final round. Carrington earned 10th place on all three judges’ cards.

Carrington said, “I owe him a lot {for this education today}. This will just take me to the next level. I just learned to deal with the irregular pace. I have a few things I need to work on at the gym. We need to get back on track and play more dominantly. But as long as we get a ‘W’ at the end of the day, we’re still good.”

Further results

Junior middleweight: Vito Mielnicki Jr. (20-1, 12 KO) from Recent Jersey made his MSG debut after a hard-fought and deserved 10-round majority decision against Italian Khalil El Harraz (16-6-1, 2 KO). Mielnicki tried to keep the fight at bay, but El Harraz often reduced the advantage. As the action moved inside, Mielnicki responded with precise body shots to maintain control. Scores: 95-95, 100-90 and 98-92.

Bantamweight: Floyd Diaz (13-0, 3 KO) defeated Mario Hernandez (12-5-1, 4 KO) after eight rounds. Diaz counterattacked and checked left hooks to keep the aggressive Hernandez at bay, then knocked him down in the fifth with a perfectly timed right uppercut. Diaz reached the finish line, but the brave Mexican veteran persevered until the final bell. Scores: 78-73 2x and 77-74.

Junior welterweight: Dominican Elvis Rodriguez (17-1-1, 13 KO) secured an impressive 10-round unanimous decision victory over Kendo Castañeda (21-7, 9 KO). Rodriguez took over the fight with body shots in the fourth round, followed by a series of powerful punches in the fifth round that caused a cut above Castaneda’s left eye. Scores: 100-90 2x and 99-91.

Junior welterweight: Tiger Johnson (14-0, 6 KO) overcame the toughest challenge of his career to date, defeating Puerto Rico’s Yomar Alamo (22-3-1, 13 KO) by eight round unanimous decision. Johnson dealt with Alamo’s clumsy style with footwork and clinch, then unleashed pointed counterattacks from the outside. Scores: 78-74 2x and 77-75.

Junior welterweight: Dominican Olympian Rohan Polanco (14-0, 9 KO) defeated Argentine veteran Marcelino Lopez (37-5-1, 22 KO) in the sixth round. Polanco gave Lopez the first knockdown of his 17-year career with a pointed right uppercut in the third quarter. Lopez survived, but Polanco forced him to kneel twice in the sixth set, leading to referee Eddie Claudio stopping the fight at 2:08.

Terri Harper ended the home run skid in the best way possible.

The historic third division title was won by the Denaby Main boxer after a ten-round unanimous decision victory over Rhiannon Dixon. Harper’s scores during the DAZN main event on Saturday at the Park Community Arena in Sheffield, England were 97-93, 97-93 and 96-94.

“For me, it was the best performance of my career,” Harper said after the win.

Harper became the first British woman to win titles in three weight classes. She previously held the 130- and 154-pound titles.

The return to lightweight comes after Harper (15-2-2, 6 knockouts) fell just brief of a welterweight title fight in her last outing. A fourth-round stoppage of then-WBO 147-pound champion Sandy Ryan (7-2-1, 3 KO) in March left Harper on a two-fight winless streak. Last October, she drew with Cecilia Braekhus to defend her WBA 154-pound title.

Both fights took place in Sheffield. Her previous home appearance was a fourth-round knockout of Alycia Baumgardner that ended her WBC 130-pound title reign.

Saturday’s clash with Dixon (9-1, 1 KO) had Harper much more comfortable at lightweight than he was at 147 and 154. It wasn’t effortless to get the action going at first, but that only made Harper’s choice of right hands stand out. much more.

Terri Harper scored a successful right-hander to win a historic third division title over Rhiannon Dixon on September 28 in Sheffield, England. Photo credit: Mark Robinson Matchroom Boxing.

Dixon struggled to choke Harper as the two were close to each other. The undefeated lightweight champion was unable to get rid of punches in these moments and quickly found herself in a losing position.

A dramatic change in momentum occurred early in the sixth. Harper connected with a right hand, but connected just as Dixon connected with a right hook. The shot caused Harper’s back leg to buckle and Dixon’s corner burst with enthusiasm in the hope of converting the goal. But Dixon couldn’t catch lightning in a bottle.

Rhiannon Dixon lands a right hook in the sixth round of her WBO lightweight title defense against Terri Harper on September 28 in Sheffield, England. Photo credit: Mark Robinson Matchroom Boxing.

Harper opened the seventh with a straight right hand up the middle. It set the tone for the balance of the fight as Dixon’s success was moderate. She managed to close the gap on one account, but her reign ended within six months.

Dixon won the vacant WBO lightweight title with an April 13 victory over Karen Elizabeth Carabajal in Manchester. She became the first trained title holder under former WBA lightweight champion Anthony Crolla, a Manchester icon in his heyday.

Despite this, Dixon described the performance as a disappointment and vowed to do better compared to Harper. She never even came close to keeping that promise.

Meanwhile, Harper resurrected her career after being written off at the age of 27.

The victory was her first since she overtook Ivana Habazin to win the WBA 154-pound title on May 27 in Manchester. She had to wait weeks to land this fight, which was postponed three times due to shifts in the programs she was previously attached to. This card alone resulted in the defeat of two previously scheduled headliners.

The leadership decision was made to put the fight first and not be at the mercy of others.

“I’m glad we continued this show,” said promoter Eddie Hearn. “These girls have been training for so long. We made the decision to keep the event and it became history. Now he is on the brink of sedate struggles. There are some gigantic names there [and around] this decision.”

Harper will join Matchroom-promoted Katie Taylor (23-1, 6 KO) and Beatriz Ferreira (5-0, 2 KO) in the lightweight title fight.

Taylor Taylor is not expected to return to the 135-pound division. She holds THE RING’s undisputed 140 championship, which she defends against RING featherweight champion Amanda Serrano (47-2-1, 31 KO) in a rematch on November 15 in Arlington, Texas. However, the WBC and WB allowed her to hold the belts at both weights, even though it violated their rules.

Taylor vacated the WBO and IBF 135-pound titles following her 140-pound victory over Chantelle Cameron last November.

Ferreira earned the IBF chip following her victory over Yanina del Carmen Lescano in Liverpool in April, scoring 27 points. The fight was her last before her second Olympic tour, during which she won bronze in Paris and a silver medal in Tokyo.

Caroline Dubois (10-0, 5 KO) is the WBC interim champion. Jessica Camara (14-4, 3 KO) is the main candidate to fight for the WBA lightweight belt as soon as it becomes available.

Now armed with a belt with a weight more suited to her figure, Harper is ready for anyone.

“It’s so good to be back in this situation,” Harper exclaimed.

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Former world champion Terri Harper used all her experience and ring nous to fend off Rhiannon Dixon during most of the 10 rounds they played in Sheffield tonight (September 28). She then took the WBO lightweight belt from Dixon, winning by decision of 97-93, 97-93 and 96-94.

Harper, the one-time super featherweight champion, had the better start and immediately her footwork caused Dixon, the more aggressive of the two, a lot of problems.

Truth be told, it was a bit of a mess early on, with too many clinches and too much stoppage, but overall it was Harper who did the better job.

Dixon’s best moment came in round six when she caught Harper with a solid counter right hook from the southpaw position. Suddenly, Harper’s thoughts flashed back to the moment she was stopped by Alycia Baumgardner with a similar shot. Caught high, she froze for a moment, allowing Dixon to fire more shots, landing several right hooks shortly thereafter.

From this point on, the quality of the fight improved, both women were tired but now clinched less often. The nervous energy seemed to subside in the second half, and with it the need to stop or pass the time.

Ultimately, though, even though Dixon was mighty in round six and the next few rounds, there was always a feeling that Harper was dictating the pace and flow of the fight.

“This is the best win of my career,” Harper, now 15-2-2 (6), said afterward. “This camp was long, but mentally and physically I became a modern fighter.

“We saw that Rhiannon likes to get ahead, so we worked a lot on counter-attacks. At one point I got a good shot and had to dig really deep. However, I managed to regain my senses and return to work.

“This is what I needed. I probably fell out of love with the sport and needed a little fire to go to the gym. For me, getting this is everything I’ve ever wanted.