By Elliot Foster
Kal Yafai became Britain’s latest world champion with a display of sheer quality.
The Birmingham super-flyweight beat Luis Concepcion to win the WBA title, which was declared vacant after Friday’s weigh-in.
Panama’s Concepcion was yesterday stripped of the belt on the scales after failing to make the weight at two attempts, meaning that the bauble was only at stake for the eventual winner.
And the weight issue showed late on in the fight as Yafai, who dominated throughout, dropped his man, exclusively live on Sky Sports Box Office.
It was something of a boxing masterclass by the 27-year-old to claim a decision on points, by margins of 120-108, 119-108 and 117-110, despite scoring a knockdown in the latter stages, as part of the supporting cast to Anthony Joshua’s second defence of the IBF heavyweight title against Eric Molina at Manchester Arena.
Concepcion, 31, was poor, in truth, and the homegrown fighter rightly had his hand raised at the end.
“I can't wait to headline in Birmingham as a world champion, my hands are a bit sore so I might be out for a little bit,” Yafai said afterwards, “but the second I can get in the gym I will be back working and getting ready to defend this belt for the first time.
“It’s unbelievable, it's going to take a while to sink in. I knew I was going to do it, it was just a matter of how.
“I just did what I needed to do, got through it. I still feel that I have a lot more in me and plenty more to give and this win will take me up to another level now.”
Tough tests await Yafai as he is now in the elite class and he will enter 2017 with an unblemished record of 21-0 (14 KOs).
Concepcion slips to 35-5 (24 KOs) in defeat.
Meanwhile, Scott Quigg returned to the ring with a win.
The Bury man has been out of action since losing his super-bantamweight world title at the hands of Carl Frampton in this setting back in February.
But Quigg, 28, is now fully healed after the broken jaw he suffered in that defeat to Frampton and won the vacant WBA International title up at featherweight against Jose Cayetano.
Cayetano, a Mexico native and former foe of Leo Santa Cruz, is the current NABF champion at 122lbs, but was outclassed by the heavy favourite.
The end came with a crashing right hook, which landed bang on the base of the chin, leaving Terry O’Connor with no option but to count the visitor out.
It came at one minute and 23 seconds of round nine.
Quigg will now be chasing the big names at 126lbs, like IBF king Lee Selby and former foe Frampton, who holds the WBA Super belt.
