Zelfa Barrett’s body work and pressure was just too much for Jordan McCorry on Saturday night.
England’s Barrett knocked down Scotland’s McCorry once apiece in the fourth and ninth rounds before their super featherweight fight was stopped in the ninth. Their scheduled 12-rounder was part of the Josh Warrington-Sofiane Takoucht undercard at First Direct Arena in Leeds, England.
Manchester’s Barrett, 26, upped his record to 23-1 and recorded his 14th knockout. He is 4-0 since suffering his only professional defeat – a 12-round majority decision to Ronnie Clark on February 24 in London.
McCorry, 28, has lost four of his past five fights. He’s now 18-7-1 (4 KOs) and has been stopped three times.
Barrett’s right hand to the body signaled the beginning of the end with just under two minutes remaining in the ninth round. McCorry tried to stay away from Barrett, but Barrett landed a right uppercut that sent McCorry to his gloves and knees with 1:25 to go in the ninth.
The scheduled 12-round fight was stopped soon thereafter, before McCorry could attempt to get up.
Barrett nailed McCorry with a left hook to the head just prior to the end of the eighth round. Several seconds later, McCorry landed a right hand after the bell sounded to end the eighth.
Barrett also appeared to land a left to McCorry’s body after the bell to end the eighth. Nevertheless, a point was deducted from McCorry before the ninth round began because he landed that late shot.
Earlier in the eighth, Barrett dropped McCorry with a right hand
McCorry took a brief break 1:15 into the sixth round to recover from a low blow Barrett landed. Earlier in the sixth, Barrett clipped McCorry with a hard, overhand right.
Barrett hit McCorry with a left hook to the body in the final minute of the third round, which made McCorry retreat. Barrett pursued him and landed another left hook to the body that dropped McCorry to his gloves and knees with 37 seconds to go in the third round.
Barrett went after McCorry’s body again once the action resumed. Rather than holding, McCorry fought his way out of the trouble and landed a right uppercut that backed Barrett into the ropes.
There wasn’t much action in either of the first two rounds until late in the second. That’s when Barrett caught McCorry with a counter left hook to the side of his head, as McCorry came forward and attempted to land a right hand.
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.