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Shabaz Masoud beat Peter McGrail by unanimous decision to claim the vacant European super-bantamweight title in Monaco.
Liverpool’s McGrail started the stronger before Stoke fighter Masoud grew into the fight.
McGrail ensured the closing rounds were tight but the judges scored it 116-111 115-112 114-113 in favour of Masoud.
It was Masoud’s first fight in 13 months, after injury meant a planned June meeting with McGrail was postponed, and now he has his eyes on a world title shot.
“I’ve got big plans,” he said. “I’m struggling making super-bantamweight and I don’t mind moving up for a world title.
“There’s a British world champion at the weight above, Nick Ball. That’s the fight I want. I need to move up.”
Earlier, in another all-British bout, British welterweight champion Conah Walker beat 2020 Olympic silver medallist Pat McCormack with a 12th-round knockout.
The Monte Carlo crowd also saw Turkey’s Elif Nur Turhan become the new IBF lightweight champion.
The 30-year-old demolished Brazil’s Beatriz Ferreira, finally stopping her in the fifth round – the two-time Olympic medallist’s first professional defeat.
