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Ryan Burnett Wins Unification Against Zhakiyanov – Reaction

Burnett came through a tough battle in his hometown to win the world title unification at the SSE Arena in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

Burnett was made to work every step of the way by the incredibly relentless and tough Zhanat Zhakiyanov who surrendered his WBA title tonight.

This was added to Burnett’s IBF bantamweight world title that saw the Belfast man improve his record to 18-0-9KO.

The scorecards were perhaps a bit too wide in favor of Burnett in the end. Zhakiyanov gave an excellent account of himself pushing the pace and working on the front foot for much of the bout, gritting his teeth and fighting tooth and nail.

A real dog fight from the very beginning, Burnett’s superior shot selection and effective punches landed was enough to give him the unanimous points decision in the end in what proved to be an entertaining battle.

Here’s how fans had it before the scorecard was officially read out:

Niall Doran

Niall Doran

Niall Doran is an experienced boxing writer, combat sports writer and professional boxing judge. He has been published and trusted on some of the planet's leading boxing, online and mixed martial arts' media outlets and publications -- including to name only a few: • Boxrec (professional judge profile): https://boxrec.com/en/judge/1043570 • Boxing News: https://boxingnewsonline.net/boxings-pay-per-view-price-war/ • Boxing Scene: https://www.boxingscene.com/author/niall-doran • Liveabout.com: https://www.liveabout.com/niall-doran-423729 • Huffington Post: https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/author/niall-doran • MixedMartialArts.com: https://www.mixedmartialarts.com/news/will-2020-see-co-promoted-mma-and-boxing-events • SevereMMA.com: https://severemma.com/2015/09/mma-and-boxing-brothers-from-another-mother/ Favorite quotes -- Michael Jordan: I hope the millions of people I've touched have the optimism and desire to share their goals and hard work and persevere with a positive attitude. Genesis 1: 1 Revelation 1:1View Author posts