Warrington vs Galahad results: Zelfa Barrett, JJ Metcalf win Commonwealth titles

Zelfa Barrett and JJ Metcalf are new Commonwealth champions, picking up nice wins today in Leeds, England, as part of the Warrington-Galahad undercard.

Barrett (22-1, 13 KO) outclassed a game Lyon Woodstock (12-2, 5 KO) over 12 rounds to win the vacant 130-pound title, winning on scores of 117-111, 117-111, and 118-110. BLH had it a shutout for Barrett, 120-108, but Woodstock had an argument in two or three rounds, for sure. Either way, it was a clear Barrett victory.

Barrett, 25, has now won three straight, but this was his first win since Oct. 2017 that didn’t come over club fighter Edwin Tellez, so that’s nice.

Photo by Nigel Roddis/Getty Images

In a competitive fight with an interesting ending, Metcalf stopped veteran Jason Welborn in the eighth round.

I had it 68-65 Metcalf after seven. They’d both been warned for going low in the sixth round, and in the eighth, Metcalf (20-0, 12 KO) lost a point for a low blow that hurt Welborn (24-8, 7 KO). But realizing he might as well take advantage, Metcalf mixed it up with Welborn and dropped and stopped him on a clean body shot.

Metcalf is now the Commonwealth champ at 154. Metcalf is 30, so he’s unlikely to really break through on the world stage or anything, but hey, Welborn managed to get a world title shot.

Shakiel Thompson PTS-6 Alistair Warren

Thompson is a long, tall (6’3”) southpaw middleweight prospect from Sheffield, and looked solid here improving to 4-0 (3 KO), having to go the distance with Warren, who drops to 11-24-5, 4 KO) on a score of 59-55 for Thompson. Thompson is raw and still has a lot to learn, obviously, but he’s certainly an interesting prospect. Even at 168 or 175 he’d be tall, at 160 he’s extremely tall, and he looks like he cares about using his height and reach.