JUNAID Bostan failed his mission to capture the vacant English super welterweight title after boxing to a draw against Bilal Fawaz.
The pair squared off in an absorbing 10-round battle at the O2 Indigo, London, with one judge scoring their co-main event clash 97-93 in favour of Fawaz.
Another judge, however, produced a scorecard of 96-94 for Bostan, while the third judge had it even at 95-95.
Bostan, 10-0-1 (8 KOs), dominated the first round with his jab, switching from lefty to righty, while Fawaz, 9-1-1 (3 KOs), came out the traps with an unorthodox guard, not throwing a single meaningful shot.
A more captivating second round then saw Fawaz unleash several promising attacks, only for his more technically gifted opponent to shift his feet out of range.
Sure enough, Bostan produced another three minutes of effective evasive work, while also slicing through Fawaz’s leaky defence with several crisp uppercuts.
In the fourth round, though, ‘Star Boy’ was momentarily knocked off balance after landing a clean right hand of his own, as a glancing hook from Fawaz proved to be the more telling shot of their exchange.
Bostan then swiftly restored a degree of control, but Fawaz – clearly encouraged by his success in the previous round – soon began to find a home for his right hand.
By the seventh round, the Nigerian-born bruiser appeared to be drenched in confidence, adopting a tighter guard while piling on the pressure with his deceptively quick feet.
During that same round, too, Bostan had significantly reduced his punch output, no longer controlling the fight but instead absorbing much of his opponent’s heavy artillery.
The next two rounds saw a strong response from Bostan, though Fawaz continued to enjoy spells of success, often catching the Yorkshireman at long range.
And yet, despite a punishing final three minutes from Fawaz, both combatants ultimately came away with a draw.
Soon after their result was announced, the pair exchanged several jibes in their post-fight interview, while Matchroom promoter Eddie Hearn insisted that an instant rematch should be next.
