Baraou outguns Eggington to claim European title

Abass Baraou is now also in line to challenge for the WBA belt

In a predictably gritty, entertaining battle, Abass Baraou overpowered Sam Eggington in Telford to claim the European super welterweight title via majority decision.

As is standard for Eggington (34-9, 20 KO), much of the fight took place in the pocket, with both men launching lengthy flurries while forehead-to-forehead. Baraou (15-1, 9 KO) just consistently edged him out in technique and horsepower, forcing Eggington to the ropes and finding the mark with heavier blows while Eggington pumped out nonstop volume.

There were multiple occasions when Eggington seemed inches from defeat, reeling across the ring while Baraou slammed home clean bomb after clean bomb, but “The Savage” always managed to restart the engine and fire broadsides of his own. Their post-clapper exchanges in the final seconds of each round were something to behold.

Two scorecards read 117-111 and 117-112 for Baraou, the third a highly questionable 114-114 courtesy of Denmark’s Freddy Rafn. My attention was admittedly split, but the Baraou scores seem fair to me.

It was a quality scrap, easy FOTYOTW material, which makes it that much more perplexing that neither Wasserman Boxing’s nor DAZN Boxing’s Twitter pages elected to share highlights. This kind soul clipped the final exchange, at least.

The win marks a much-needed kick in the pants for Baraou’s career, which stalled out after a questionable decision loss to Jack in 2020. It also puts him in line for a title shot, as the WBA upgraded it to an eliminator at the last moment. While the WBA’s site still lists Jermell Charlo as champion, recent reports indicate that Israil Madrimov and Magomed Kurbanov will fight for the full “super” title next week as opposed to the secondary “world” belt.