Joseph Parker survives two knockdowns to earn majority decision win over Zhilei Zhang

Joseph Parker survived two knockdowns to earn a majority decision win over Zhilei Zhang and become the new WBO interim champion of the world in Saudi Arabia.

The New Zealander, who beat Deontay Wilder last time out, was floored in the third and eighth rounds by the powerful Zhang but recovered to record a fifth straight victory.

“Thank you to my team, this is a great win,” Parker said. “I feel like we’re on the up now. Zhang is a tough man, he knocked me down twice but I came back to the corner and Andy [Lee] told me to keep my composure and keep boxing and follow the plan.

“I’m really happy and I’m going to go home and celebrate.”

The opening round was cagey, with neither fighter eager to overextend and put themselves at risk.

Zhang moved forward in the second and backed Parker into the corner, and although he couldn’t land anything meaningful, he remained on the front foot and sent his opponent to the canvas in the third with a sharp left hand.

Parker got to his feet and survived to make the bell but took another stinging left at the start of the fourth.

But the New Zealander finally found some success with some slick combinations at the end of the round and looked the livelier in a tight fifth and sixth.

There was a little more action in the seventh, with Zhang landing another left before Parker punctuated his guard with a right hand.

A big right then briefly seemed to wobble Zhang to start the next round but the 40-year-old absorbed it well before scoring his second knockdown with a an innocuous looking right hook.

Parker recovered well and landed the more meaningful shots in the ninth and 10th rounds as an exhausted Zhang’s output diminished.

That theme continued in the final two rounds, with Parker’s better engine ultimately proving decisive.

As for what’s next, Parker added: “What’s next is I’m fighting Zhang again. That’s what’s contracted so we’re going to do it again.”

Rey Vargas held onto his WBC featherweight title after a controversial split draw with Nick Ball.

It was a fight of two halves as Vargas started by far the better before Ball responded emphatically to score two knockdowns.

But it wasn’t enough to get his hand raised and dethrone Vargas, with the judges unable to determine an outright winner.

The much taller champion enjoyed the stronger opening, taking advantage of his opponent’s wild lunges to land some nice combinations.

In the fifth, Vargas continued his fine work to the body and landed a good right-left combination, but Ball finally found his range in the second half of the contest.

The Brit enjoyed a strong sixth round before nearly flooring Vargas with a pinpoint overhand right in the seventh that had the Mexican on unsteady legs.

Vargas then did hit the canvas at the end of the the eighth after losing balance and getting clipped.

In a close 10th, Vargas knocked Ball off balance with a couple of stinging body shots but the champion crucially hit the deck again in the 11th after stumbling and being hit by a right hand.

Both men raised their arms at the end of a tight final round but neither got the decision they wanted, with a rematch surely on the cards.

Elsewhere, Israil Madrimov claimed the WBA super-lightweight title in style, stopping Magomed Kurbanov in the fifth round.

The 29 started brightly, using his left hand effectively to the body and head, while mixing in some stiff rights.

His success was built off his movement and speed and some quick left hooks in the second seemed to momentarily stun Kurbanov, who took another flurry of punches in the third.

He upped the ante further in the fifth before buckling the legs of his opponent with an overhand right and following it up to get the finish and TKO win.

After landing his first world title, Madrimov set his sights on the biggest names in the 154-pound division.

Mark Chamberlain produced a career-best performance to finish Gavin Gwynne in the fourth round in their lightweight clash.

Chamberlain was on the front foot from the first bell, landing his left hand seemingly at will and marking up the face of Gwynne early.

Despite the huge swelling above his left eye Gwynne kept coming forward and walking into combinations in the third and fourth rounds and referee Howard Foster decided he had seen enough with the Welshman penned against the ropes.

In the first fight of the night, Justis Huni survived a huge scare to beat Kevin Lerena via unanimous decision and improve his record to 9-0.

Lerena hurt the Australian in the second round and then nearly downed his opponent in a thrilling finale, but Huni showed why he’s so highly rated in the middle part of the fight.

Strong right hands in the sixth and seventh drew blood from the face of Lerena, and although his defence was breached in the 10th round, the 24-year-old did enough to get his hand raised.

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