O’Shaquie Foster Edges Raymond Ford to Retain WBC Super Featherweight Title in Houston

The judges couldn’t quite agree on every round, but they agreed on the winner.

O’Shaquie Foster kept hold of the WBC World Super Featherweight title on Saturday night in Houston, turning back the challenge of Raymond Ford by majority decision in the night’s headline attraction.

Elsewhere on the card, Javon Woodard Jr produced the biggest finish of the evening with a knockout win over hometown veteran Miguel Flores, while several unbeaten prospects continued their rise with impressive victories.

O’Shaquie Foster vs Raymond Ford

O’Shaquie Foster improved to 25-3-0 and retained the WBC World Super Featherweight championship with a 12-round majority decision over Raymond Ford, who drops to 18-2-1.

The scorecards came back 118-110, 116-112 and 114-114 in Foster’s favour.

If you only looked at the scorecards, you’d think this was comfortable. It didn’t really feel that way in the arena. For long stretches the fight was incredibly even, with both men matching each other’s skills and taking turns having success.

The opening round also featured a controversial moment when Foster threw Ford to the canvas in a sequence that sent the challenger tumbling dangerously through the ropes. Foster was fortunate not to receive a point deduction for the incident, and some ringside observers felt the referee could easily have taken a harsher view.

Ford looked sharp and composed throughout, while Foster answered back with the kind of timing and ring IQ that has made him such a difficult champion to beat. There was very little separating them for much of the contest.

The difference seemed to come in the closing rounds. As the fight edged towards the finish, Foster became the slightly busier fighter, throwing more, doing just enough to catch the judges’ attention and nicking the key moments when it mattered most.

It wasn’t a dominant title defence by any means, but Foster found a way to edge a very competitive fight and keep hold of the WBC belt.

Co-Main Event/Chief Support

Javon Woodard Jr moved to 17-2-0 with an eighth-round knockout of Miguel Flores (29-6-1).

Flores hit the canvas in round two and then twice more in round eight before the bout was waved off at 2:31 of the round.

That was a bit of a statement from Woodard. Flores has shared the ring with plenty of good fighters over the years, but Woodard broke him down and finished the job emphatically.

Charlie Sheehy remained unbeaten by stopping Nike Theran in round nine. The official time was 1:51, pushing Sheehy to 13-0-0 while Theran slips to 20-3-0.

Undercard

Omari Jones picked up his seventh professional victory with a wide unanimous decision over previously unbeaten Diego Zuniga. All three judges scored it 80-71 after eight rounds, moving Jones to 7-0-0 and handing Zuniga his first defeat at 9-1-0.

Zaquin Moses improved to 7-0-0 after outpointing Travis Crawford (7-7-0) over six rounds. The judges all scored it 60-54.

Julian Montalvo made quick work of Maximus Moya, forcing a fourth-round TKO at 2:16. Montalvo advances to 7-0-0 while Moya falls to 3-4-0.

Frank Espinoza stayed unbeaten and moved to 4-0-0 when Bryce Blackwell was retired after round three. The RTD defeat drops Blackwell to 4-3-0.

Jahyden Franklin Britton kept his perfect record intact by stopping Najee West in round four. The finish came at 2:58 of the round, lifting Britton to 9-0-0 while West drops to 9-3-0.

Final Thoughts

Foster left Houston with his belt, Woodard left with one of the night’s standout finishes, and the Matchroom prospects largely did what they were expected to do.

No huge upset at the top of the bill, but Foster’s win keeps him right in the mix for some very interesting fights at 130 pounds.

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