Racing Post Ringside: Boxing results, betting insights & upcoming fights – Badou Jack vs Norair Mikaeljan 2 headlines next week's action

Boxing results and highlights

Jai Opetaia def. Huseyin Cinkara – KO, Round 8
Odds: 1-33 J Opetaia, 14-1 H Cinkara, 28-1 draw
Venue: Gold Coast Convention Centre, Broadbeach

Australia's Jai Opetaia successfully defended his IBF cruiserweight world title with an eighth-round knockout win over Germany's Huseyin Cinkara on the Gold Coast.

Opetaia was the heavy favourite going into the bout but Cinkara had some success in the early exchanges, rocking the champion in the second round and doing some damage to Opetaia's right eye.

The 30-year-old southpaw began to dominate, however, and in the eighth round he connected with a devastating left hook that immediately ended the contest. Opetaia now has three consecutive wins over previously unbeaten opponents and will be looking at either a unification fight next or potentially making the move up to heavyweight.

Shabaz Masoud def. Peter McGrail – UD
Odds: 4-5 S Masoud, Evs P McGrail, 10-1 draw
Venue: Salle des Etoiles, Monte Carlo. 

Stoke's Shabaz Masoud emerged on top of an all-British clash in Monaco as he claimed the vacant European super-bantamweight title.

The judges scored it 116-111 115-112 114-113 in favour of Masoud, who hopes to move up to featherweight to take on British WBA champion Nick Ball.

O'Shaquie Foster def. Stephen Fulton – UD
Odds: 4-5 O Foster, 11-10 S Fulton, 16-1 draw
Venue: Frost Bank Center, San Antonio, Texas

O'Shaquie Foster overcame Stephen Fulton to claim a comfortable victory on the judges' scorecards in Texas.

The 32-year-old American is now the mandatory challenger to the winner of January's WBO light-welterweight title fight between Teofimo Lopez and Shakur Stevenson.

Isaac Cruz vs Lamont Roach – Majority draw
Betting odds: 1-2 L Roach, 9-5 I Cruz, 16-1 draw
Venue: Frost Bank Center, San Antonio, Texas

The main event on the Texas card ended in controversial circumstances as Isaac Cruz retained his WBC interim super-lightweight title with a majority draw against Lamont Roach.

Mexico's Cruz was outlanded 191-159 by Roach, but he knocked down the American in the third round, before being docked a point for a kidney punch in the seventh.

While two of the three judges scored the fight level at 113-113, the third judge made it 115-111 in Cruz's favour.

Neither fighter was pleased with the outcome. "I don't accept this at all. I clearly thought I won a close fight," Roach side, while Cruz, who is eyeing a rematch with different officials, declared that he won the fight, before saying that the referee took it from him.

Upcoming boxing schedule

Attention will soon switch to Anthony Joshua's Netflix dust-up with YouTuber turned boxer Jake Paul, which takes place in Miami on Friday, December 19.

Before that, however, there are a couple of competitive contests taking place next weekend, starting in Dubai on Friday where 44-year-old Bulgarian Kubrat Pulev will defend the WBA heavyweight title against Murat Gassiev, who is 12 years his junior.

Saturday's headline act comes from the cruiserweight division, where Swedish veteran Badou Jack will put his WBC title on the line against Norair Mikaeljan.

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Badou Jack vs Norair Mikaeljan 2 betting predictions

Badou Jack and Norair Mikaeljan meet in an immediate rematch after a majority decision win for the former earlier this year. Armenian Mikaeljan threw more punches and landed more shots in the first clash, but Jack was more accurate and connected with the more powerful punches.

A win for the Swede seemed a fair result after a close fight for Jack's WBC cruiserweight strap but an appeal was launched by Mikaeljan's team and an immediate rematch was ordered. Jack is the slight underdog here at 6-5 and on the basis of his performance in the first fight another win for the champion could be the way to go. 

Badou Jack profile

Age: 42
Record: 29-3-3
Weight: Cruiserweight
Next Fight: Norair Mikaeljan, December 13, Ace Mission Studios in Los Angeles

Badou Jack is a fighter who has produced a number of upsets over the course of his career, the most notable being a majority decision win over Anthony Dirrell back in 2015.

Dirrell was making a voluntary defence of his WBC super middleweight title but Jack got the decision and in truth was unfortunate not to win via unanimous decision. The Swede followed that up with another upset victory as he outpointed mandatory challenger George Groves.

Jack, who has also faced Briton's James DeGale (draw) and Nathan Cleverley (won via fifth round TKO), is coming towards the end of what has been an exceptional career and at 42 he could decide his rematch with Norair Mikaeljan is his last bout irrespective of the result. 

If Jack does win and he decides to fight on, Opetaia or the winner of next year's showdown between Gilberto Ramirez and David Benavidez could be next on the horizon for The Ripper. 

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