Britain’s Sunny Edwards out-pointed Felix Alvarado to retain his IBF flyweight title and undefeated record in Sheffield.
Edwards, 26, dominated the first half of the fight and dug in brilliantly when Alvarado tried to respond with relentless, if disjointed, pressure.
The three judges scored it 115-113, 115-113, 116-112 in Edwards’ favour.
Edwards says he wants to fight WBC super-flyweight champion James Rodriguez next.
“Bam [James] Rodriguez you promised me the fight next, come and get it,” Edwards said.
Big unification fights could also be on the horizon for the Briton, with fellow champions Artem Dalakian and Julio Cesar Martinez both undefeated in the flyweight division.
But Edwards said Mexico’s WBC champion Martinez was “running scared” from the fight, while Ukraine’s Dalakian is due to defend his WBA title on 23 January.
Edwards cruises to 19th win
Edwards started elusively, firing off counters on the move as Nicaraguan Alvarado tried and failed to smother the champion.
Alvarado had an impressive 33 knockouts in 38 wins coming into the contest and the challenger clearly felt he could hurt Edwards and continued to move forward.
But Edwards was in confident mood, even happy to stay on the ropes as his 33-year-old opponent looked for a big shot.
That exchange in the third round caused momentary anxiety in the crowd but Edwards moved away and responded with a strong left hook on the move and repeatedly opted to fight Alvarado in the same manner throughout.
The champion remained comfortable on the back foot and landed a beautiful, counter right uppercut in the fifth round.
The Briton appeared to be on his way to a wide points decision, capping off an impressive opening half with a crunching left hook onto the head of Alvarado at the end of the sixth.
Alvarado was momentarily stunned but quickly recovered, and just as it seemed that Edwards was on his way to a shutout the challenger upped the pace.
He forced Edwards back under the weight of a stinging right hand quickly followed by a painful body shot in the seventh round.
The defending champion was under pressure right through until the eleventh round, but never hurt, though he did end up on the canvas when referee Steve Gray accidentally stepped on his ankle, sending him backwards on the floor.
Edwards did seem to tire under the relentless pressure, but Alvarado struggled to put a definitive dent in his defences.
Edwards was unconcerned with the challenger’s power, trading blows on the ropes for a lengthy period at the end of the tenth, before upping the pace, regaining control and cruising through the final round to the 19th win of his unblemished career.
