Archie Sharp preserved his chances of facing newly-crowned WBO super-featherweight champion Shakur Stevenson by cantering to an easy points win over Burkina Faso’s Alexia Boureima Kabore at the York Hall, Bethnal Green, on Friday night.
All three scores were 100-90 as the WBO No.2 rated Sharp (21-0, 9 KOs) handily outboxed the West African journeyman. Kabore (28-5, 7 KOs) proved little threat to Sharp’s lofty world ranking, but helped shake off some ring rust for the contender from Welling.
The chief supporting contest provided far more drama as stiff-hitting Dominican Juan Carlos Abreu (24-6-1, 22 KOs & 1 NC) rose from the canvas in the second to shock the highly-regarded Kazakh Tursynbay Kulakhmet (4-1, 3 KOs) in the seventh round.
When southpaw Kulakhmet was dropped heavily for the second time in the seventh with a right hand, referee Victor Loughlin waved it off without taking up the count.
In other notable action, Irish 140lbs prospect Pierce O’Leary (8-0, 4 KOs) halted Hackney-based Turk Siar Ozgul (15-7, 3 KOs) in the seventh round.
Main image: MTK Global.