Jack Catterall suffered a stunning defeat to Arnold Barboza Jr in Manchester as he missed out on a world title shot.
Catterall and Barboza Jr met in a mouth-watering super-lightweight clash at the Co-op Arena in Manchester, with the Briton looking to win on home soil.
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There were huge stakes for the pair, with the winner to pick up the WBO interim title and a potential opportunity to fight Teofimo Lopez next for the full belt.
It was an intriguing chess-match, and a barely possible contest to separate the fighters, as it had promised on paper.
But it was Barboza who inflicted the upset on foreign soil, as he travelled over to the UK and grabbed a narrow split decision win.
The scorecards read 115-113 to Catterall, 115-113 to Barboza and the final card at 115-113 in the favour of Barboza Jr.
He had no arguments and reviewed the result positively, determined to come back stronger.
He said: “Tricky fight, close fight. All credit to him.
“I felt like I did enough to win.
“But I’m straight back to the ring. Straight back to it.”
Catterall began the fight boxing well and using the jab to control the early range, with a chess-match like opening round unfolding in Manchester.
Barboza started the more aggressive of the two, starting to close the gap and find the target in the exchanges.
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El Gato’s left hand started to find the mark in the second, with Barboza restricted and patient in his work but gathering momentum.
But the third round saw the pair start to open up with the American growing into the contest and landing his best work.
The fourth and fifth rounds sparked into action as the pair started to open up and trade with more regularity, with Barboza himself turning the screw again.
Catterall showed some swelling on his face as the midway point approached, with Barboza stepping forward in bursts as the Briton looked to catch him as he came in with his trademark counter punching.
It was barely possible to split the pair as the rounds ticked down, with Barboza perhaps narrowly landing the more eye-catching work as both fighters looked to dictate the pace.
The British fighter started to get the edge and fight the target more as the championship rounds approached, boxing with fluidity and composure while staying out of range.
Catterall thought he had dropped Barboza in the tenth period, but it was a tangle of legs that was spotted by the referee and a knockdown wasn’t awarded.
A difficult fight to score continued, but the action finally heated up in the eleventh as the pair tried their best to catch the eye of the judges.
It was almost impossible to separate the pair as the bell sounded for the final stanza, and both fighters raised their hand after yet another back and forth round.
The victor, Barboza Jr, now has the chance to face Lopez, but the champion has expressed little interest in facing the winner of the clash tonight.
The division king is determined to face Richardson Hitchins instead, and his next fight could sensationally take place in Alcatraz prison in the summer.
It would be the first ever fight in the venue, a unique record-breaking experience which could significantly boost the profile of the fighters involved.
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