Sam Eggington beaten in European title bout
Sam Eggington’s bid to become a two-weight European champion ended in brave defeat to Abass Baraou.
The Stourbridge fighter was beaten on majority decision at Telford International Centre on Friday night, with Baraou eventually proving too strong over 12 action-packed rounds as he claimed the EBU super welterweight crown and a likely future shot at the WBA world title.
Eggington required five stitches to a cut above his left eye after falling to the ninth defeat of his 43-fight professional career.
The 30-year-old had entered the night as underdog and the bookies were eventually proved correct with Germany’s Baraou, one year his junior, landing more consistently and more often.
But this was by no means a poor performance from Eggington, who actually outboxed the former European amateur champion for extended periods at long-range.
Instead it was in the trenches, where Eggington has so often excelled during his career, in which the German proved superior, his right hook eventually becoming the dominant and most punishing punch of the fight.
In truth, things were pretty even for the opening half, maybe two-thirds of a bout also confirmed as a final eliminator for the WBA crown.
The turning point came in the ninth when Eggington was caught against the ropes, allowing Baraou to land a series of heavy shots.
From that point onward, the visiting fighter increasingly looked the stronger and fresher man, thought Eggington did not stop pushing until the final bell.
Baraou, who even stayed on his feet in his corner between rounds, was awarded the fight 117-12 and 117-11 on two of the judges scorecards, with the other scoring it a 114-114 draw.
Earlier in the evening, Wolverhampton’s Gully Powar extended his unbeaten start to life in the professional ranks with an eighth victory, comfortably outpointing Belgium’s Angelo Turco 40-36 in their super featherweight contest.
Things were much tougher for his Black Country Boxing stablemate, Ryan Kelly, who emerged victorious from a six-round barnstormer with Romania’s Ioan Lutic despite being floored in the final minutes.
Lutic also went down in the fifth round of a thrilling fight, Kelly eventually taking the decision 57-55 on the referee’s scorecard.
