Baraou upsets Tellez for interim 154 belt in fight of the year candidate
Rivera, Cordova fight to draw in foul-filled interim flyweight title bout; Bahdi outpoints Gutierrez to earn mandatory against Gervonta Davis
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If there was any doubt that Abass Baraou was on his way to an upset win over Yoenis Tellez, he left no doubt when with his 745th and final punch of the fight he knocked him down in the waning seconds of the 12th round.
It was the most dramatic moment of a tremendously exciting battle and then Baraou was rewarded with a unanimous decision victory as he took the WBA interim junior middleweight title from Tellez in the co-feature of the Most Valuable Promotions/Boxlab card on DAZN on Saturday night at the Caribe Royale Resort in Orlando, Florida.
The judges scored it 117-110, 116-111 and 115-112 for Baraou, the former European champion and Tellez’s mandatory challenger. Baraou will soon become the full WBA titleholder at 154 pounds, however, and has made himself a player in perhaps boxing’s deepest division.
WBA president Gilberto Mendoza Jr. told Fight Freaks Unite after the fight that that when reigning titleholder Terence Crawford steps into the ring for his Sept. 13 mega fight with undisputed super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez that his recognition will be withdrawn and Baraou will become the full titleholder — and be mandated to defend against former undisputed champion Jermell Charlo.
