O’Shaquie Foster and Abraham Nova in Hard-Fought Split Decision Battle

WBC 130 lb. champ O’Shaquie Foster wasn’t his best, but he was good enough to get a 12-round decision over Abraham Nova to successfully defend his title Friday night in New York City.

The Texan Foster was busier and better over the 12 rounds in the Top Rank Boxing/ESPN main event at the Theater at Madison Square Garden. In the build-up to the fight, we brought you the breakdown by numbers, and now it’s time to bring you the recap of the fight in NYC.

O’Shaquie Foster Defeats Abraham Nova

No shocker here.

🏆 @OshaquieFoster | #FosterNova pic.twitter.com/oVvGWooSJV

— Top Rank Boxing (@trboxing) February 17, 2024

O’Shaquie Foster Was Better Overall

Foster, now 21-2, 12 KOs, was able to score effectively with right jabs out of the southpaw stance and put straight lefts behind it. although Nova had been effective through the first five rounds by scoring on occasion with hard rights of his own.

In the end, Foster won the late rounds, including the 12th with a quick “flash knockdown” of Nova with a left to the side of the head. Nova easily beat the count, but Foster had done enough on two cards to get his hand raised.

Read More: O’Shaquie Foster Vows Shock Performance Against Abraham Nova

The judges scores were 115-112  and 116-111 for Foster with the dissenting judge having it 114-113 for the challenger.

Foster had won a wild fight over “Rocky” Hernandez last November in Cancun, Mexico. That’s where he was trailing on the cards in the late rounds, yet, he scored a dramatic knockdown in the 11th round and eventually, after being hurt briefly himself late, stopped Hernandez with only :30 left in the fight.

Friday night, Foster out-landed Nova 88 to 74 in power punches, according to Compubox stats which also sided with him overall.

Post Fight Quotes

“My rhythm was off tonight. I can’t complain. My timing was off. He was a tough opponent,” Foster said in the ring to ESPN post-fight. “I had a bad weight cut. I don’t want to make no excuses. Hats off to Nova he made it a good fight.”

Foster will now look towards a possible unification bout at junior lightweight later this year.

Knockouts on the Foster vs. Nova Undercard

Just before the main event in the co-feature bout, unbeaten junior lightweight contender Andres Cortes remained undefeated with an easy TKO win over Bryan Chevalier in the fourth round. Cortes dominated, especially with lead right hards. The Las Vegas native Cortes improved to 21-0, 12 KOs, after trapping Chevalier along the ropes with a combination of punches that turned him sideways and after another solid right, the bout was stopped.

Read More: 5 Underrated Featherweights to Watch Out for in 2024

Also on the undercard, unbeaten popular New York featherweight Bruce “Shu Shu” Carrington delivered a booming fourth round KO against Bernard Torres. Carrington had been landing hard right left combos in the second and the third round and late in the fourth, he caught Torres with a big right to the jaw sending him to the canvas sideways and barely moving. The fight was waved off and Carrington is now 11-o in his young career.