Photo by Stephanie Trapp/Showtime Sports
Jose Pedraza (20-0, 12 KOs) scored a 12-round unanimous decision victory over Andrey Klimov (19-2, 9 KOs) to win the IBF Super Featherweight title at the Bartow Arena in Birmingham, Alabama.
The fight was the co-main event of Showtime’s coverage of the WBC title fight between Deontay Wilder and Eric Molina.
After a slow first round, Pedraza, 29, used his jab to keep Klimov out of range and to set up combinations to his body and head.
With his sharp jab, the native of Puerto Rico landed several punches as Klimov pushed forward.
After a slow Round 5, Klimov upped his offense and pushed forward, but the 25-year-old native of Russian was still subjected to hooks to the body from Pedraza.
By Round 7, Klimov was a bloody mess as Pedraza continued landed combinations on the inside and from the outside.
Pedraza continued his domination into the final round, and won with scores of 119-109, 120-108, and 120-108.
