Barrett’s Triumph: An Impressive Victory Leaves Manchester Roaring

On Saturday, April 13, Zelfa Barrett (31-2, 17 KOs) defeated Jordan Gill (28-3-1, 9 KOs) by tenth-round TKO at the AO Arena in Manchester, England, live on DAZN in a 12-round super featherweight bout.

Sweet Caroline was blaring from the stadium speakers, and the fighters arrived in the ring, with David Diamante hollering the immortal words, “the time has come.” It was a night where Barrett was not to be denied

Zelfa Barrett Stops Jordan Gill in Impressive Style

Jordan Gill vs. Zelfa Barrett Recap

Barrett began the fight looking to establish his jab, while Gill walked forward looking to work the body of Barrett, with these strategies present for most of the opening three rounds. Barrett landed the best shot in round three with a big right hand, but his opponent took it well and kept coming forward.

Round four was the best of the fight at this point – with Barrett moving well and landing some well-timed body shots on the Huntingdon-born fighter, which seemed to hurt Gill, before he fired back with a left hand, with both fighters landing near the bell.

Read More: Five Underrated Featherweights to Watch Out for in 2024

The next few rounds were close, with Barrett looking to use his jab and control the distance. Gill got closer in round seven and landed some good body shots, looking to slow Barrett down. The eighth round was another good round for the Huntingdon-born fighter.

Round nine followed how much of the fight had gone, but Barrett seemed more proactive in his work, and this carried on in round 10, where he folded Gill with a beautiful body shot, with Gill somehow beating the count and trading shots with the Manchester-born fighter before another body shot dropped Gill, and even though he bravely got to his feet another sustained attack forced the referee to wave the fight off, awarding Zelfa Barrett a hugely important win.

Post Fight Quotes

Zelfa Barrett

In the post-fight interview, Barrett spoke about the importance of the win: “It was vital, do or die really.” 

“He’s a top fighter man.”

“I had to work hard.”

“Anybody can get it.”

Jordan Gill

Jordan Gill was clearly disappointed: “Congratulations to Zelfa.”

“I thought the fight could have gone either way.”

“I couldn’t find a way back in.”

Eddie Hearn

Eddie Hearn congratulated both fighters in the ring: “Two great examples in the sport of boxing.”

“It was anybody’s fight.”

He also addressed what was next for Barrett: “It’s time to deliver him a world title shot.”

Undercard

The well-supported Stephen Clarke (2-0, 1 KO) won 40-35 against Jensen Irving (4-10, 0 KOs) in a four-round middleweight contest. 

Ellie Scotney (9-0, 0 KOs) was superb in defeating Segolene Lefebvre (18-1, 1 KO) by unanimous decision – becoming the unified IBF, WBO and Ring magazine super bantamweight champion of the world. The judges scorecards read 99-91, 97-93 and 96-94.

Rhiannon Dixon (10-0, 1 KO) won the vacant WBO lightweight title by unanimous decision against Karen Elizabeth Carabajal (22-2, 3 KOs), with the judges scoring the bout 98-91, 97-92 and the third card reading 96-93. Dixon did enough in the judge’s eyes to win the majority of the rounds and scored a vital knockdown in round three.

Jordan Flynn (10-0-1, 1 KO) defeated Tampela Maharusi (10-5-4, 5 KOs) in their six-round bout, with the referee scoring the contest 59-54.

Michael Gomez Jr. (21-1, 6 KOs) scored an impressive TKO victory over Kane Baker (19-11-2, 1 KO) in the sixth round to retain his English super-featherweight strap.

Before the Bell

Jack Turner (6-0, 6 KOs) put in an explosive performance, blowing Abdul Kesi Ngaoma (7-6-1 6 KOs) away in the first round of their junior bantamweight fight.

Jimmy Sains (4-0, 4 KOs), the promising young middleweight, beat Mateusz Kalecki (2-2, 1 KO) by fourth-round TKO.

William Crolla (5-0, 4 KOs) impressed once again, defeating Fabio Cascone (4-10, 1 KO) in their junior middleweight contest by first-round KO.

Brandon Scott (7-0, 1 KO) defeated Rodrigo Matias Areco (5-6-2, 0 KOS) in their featherweight contest, with the referee scoring the bout 58-56.