LAKELAND, Fla. — In his first main event on U.S. soil, Muhammadkhuja Yaqubov turned back a determined challenger to win a majority decision.
The Tajikistan-born southpaw defeated William Foster III by scores of 98-92 on two cards – overruling a third 95-95 card – at RP Funding Center in the ten-round main event of a card broadcasted live on ProBox TV.
Yaqubov, 23-1 (12 KOs), showed skill and speed early, and heart and conditioning late, to repel the determined challenge from Foster, 19-3 (11 KOs), in their junior featherweight fight.
“He was a tough guy, he fought hard to the end,” said the 30-year-old Yaqubov.
Early on, Yaqubov’s footwork and southpaw combinations were confounding Foster. Like a mini Manny Pacquiao, Yaqubov was able to flurry and roll out to his right repeatedly against Foster, who couldn’t keep him in front of him long enough to land his straight rights. Foster had walked to the ring dressed in the green ninja garb of Mortal Kombat’s Reptile character, but perhaps should have dressed as Scorpion instead so he could do the “get over here” move to keep Yaqubov from dancing away repeatedly.
Yaqubov, who was five inches shorter than the 5’10” Foster, found the target often with his left hands to the body, slowly sapping the energy from Foster in the third and fourth rounds and erasing the perpetual smile from the New Haven, Connecticut-based fighter’s face. Foster finally began to find answers in the fifth and sixth rounds, bringing his left hook behind his rights to cut off the escape route that Yaqubov repeatedly went to. Unable to roll to his right reliably, Yaqubov began to attack through the front door more frequently, which opened him up to the right hands from Foster.
Foster had his best round in the eighth round, following his corner’s advice to step to his left and landing rights and lefts afterwards. Yaqubov never stopped punching, however, and found moments late in rounds to flurry and influence the judges.
Manager Jim Kambosos said that, while Yaqubov still has “a few bad habits” to work out, the victory was a good first step for him under new head trainer Manny Robles in California. He believes Yaqubov will improve on his No. 5 rating with the WBC at 130lbs, as he stretched his winning streak to five since his lone defeat, a 2022 unanimous decision to current WBC 130lbs champ O'Shaquie Foster.
“That was a good hard fought win tonight against an experienced campaigner, a tall, rangy guy William. We knew he was going to be tough, so we’re happy with the result,” said Kambosos, who says Yaqubov will return to the ring in another ten rounder near the end of the year or early 2026.
Foster, whose loss snaps a two-fight winning streak, says he could understand the 95-95 score but felt the other two cards were “total bullshit.”
“The guy was more tired in the late rounds and I was outworking him. I don’t know how they get 98-92. I can see the draw because it was kind of close but the 98-92 I don’t understand,” said Foster.
“Life is cruel so I don’t care about it.”
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