Ryan Burnett defended his WBA bantamweight world title on Saturday night against Yonfrez Parejo. The Belfast fighter defeated the Venezuelan by unanimous decision on the Anthony Joshua vs Joseph Parker card at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.
It was a first defence of his title for the 25-year-old Burnett and it came despite suffering a possible broken hand in the third round of the bout.
"I felt myself warming into it but come the third round, I hit him with a right hand at the beginning of the round and I felt my hand go," Burnett told BBC Sport after the fight.
Whenever I tried to use it again after, it was just out of action; I couldn't throw it whatsoever. I just had to rely on my boxing skill to get me through the rounds to make sure I won the fight.
Despite having to box nearly ten rounds with just one hand, Burnett navigated the bumpy journey. He did so by remaining focussed on the task in front of him. Remarkably, two judges gave every round to Burnett.
"To be honest I was just solely focussed on just being as sharp as possible and just making him miss. I tried to throw it a few times but anytime it was getting close to landing, it was giving me shooting pain up up my hand so I knew it was out of the game.
"I can tick this one off my bucket list: I fought in a massive stadium in front of 80,000."
