Sam Noakes and Denys Berinchyk will both look to get back into world title contention this evening when they collide for the vacant WBO International lightweight title.
The pair meet in the co-main event of the Moses Itauma vs. Filip Hrgovic card at The O2 Arena in London, where a win could see either of them climb back near the top of the rankings in the 135lb division.
Noakes challenged for world honours in November when he was beaten by Abdullah Mason in their highly-entertaining vacant WBO lightweight title bout, but he has since bounced back with a stoppage win to take his current record to 18-1 with 16 knockouts.
As for Berinchyk, he held the WBO lightweight title after defeating Emanuel Navarrete by split decision back in May 2024, but he then suffered a fourth round stoppage loss to Keyshawn Davis in his first defence eight months later.
The Ukrainian now returns for the first time since that bout as he takes on hard-hitting Noakes, who the bookies view as the favourite ahead of the contest.
Stay with Boxing News for a live scorecard and final fight result.
Noakes vs Berinchyk live scorecard
This is a Boxing News live scorecard and not the official score from the judges.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Noakes | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 98 |
| Berinchyk | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 92 |
Noakes vs Berinchyk fight result
Noakes UD 100-90, 99-91, 98-92.
Noakes moves a step closer to earning another world title shot with a comfortable victory over former world champion Berinchyk. Noakes pushed the pace from the offset, landing the bigger shots as Berinchyk appeared to struggle with the strength of his opponent.
As the fight entered the halfway stage, Noakes landed several hurtful body shots that had it seeming like the stoppage could soon be on the horizon, but Berinchyk was able to dig in deep and even made it a somewhat competitive affair during the closing rounds. In the end though it was too little too late, as Noakes had done more than enough up to that point as he earned the unanimous decision win.
