Ben Marksby Beats Yaser Al Ghena To Win Commonwealth And WBO Belts

Ben Marksby’s busy jab, quick combinations and refusal to surrender ground without answering earned him the Commonwealth and WBO European super lightweight titles against Yaser Al Ghena at OVO Arena Wembley. A knockdown in the sixth helped the Darlington boxer secure a unanimous decision after twelve competitive rounds in which the champion’s pressure repeatedly tested his composure.

The scores were 116 to 111, 117 to 110 and 114 to 113. Those margins described rather different evenings, although all three officials agreed on the essential point: Marksby had done enough. The narrowest card also underlined the importance of the count administered to Al Ghena by referee Howard Foster.

Marksby, 27, remained unbeaten, moving from 14 victories to 15, with three stoppages. Al Ghena, 31, suffered his first defeat after 16 wins, also with three inside the distance. Their meeting on the MF Pro promotion, broadcast by DAZN, supplied a demanding examination of two unbeaten records rather than a comfortable introduction to championship boxing.

The contrast was clear from the opening stages. Al Ghena advanced behind a high guard, looking to impose his strength and make his heavier individual punches count. Marksby offered more activity, changing between straight lefts, hooks and combinations while trying to prevent the champion from establishing himself at close range.

Neither approach made the other irrelevant. Al Ghena could make his punches register when he found the target, while Marksby’s willingness to put shots together ensured the advancing man rarely had an exchange entirely to himself. Pressure was useful; it was not a receipt for ownership of the round.

Marksby’s left hand was central to his work. He used it to occupy Al Ghena and create opportunities for combinations rather than relying on an occasional clean counter. His attacks went to both head and body, requiring the champion to defend more than one target as he came forward.

Al Ghena remained persistent. His guard made Marksby work to find openings, and his solid individual punches ensured the challenger could not simply throw without regard for what might come back. The contest demanded judgement about when to move, when to answer and when to hold position.

By the fifth, Marksby was enjoying a spell on the front foot as Al Ghena’s intensity dipped. It was an important change in the pattern. The challenger was no longer spending every passage reacting to the champion’s advance; he could make Al Ghena respond to him.

The sixth brought the clearest incident of the fight. As Al Ghena tried to reassert himself, Marksby timed a right hand that sent him to the canvas. Foster counted, the champion recovered and the contest resumed. Al Ghena’s response was determined, and the knockdown did not remove him from the argument.

Marksby had to continue working for his advantage. Al Ghena pressed again and made the challenger deal with the physical demands of maintaining movement and output. The right hand had provided a valuable scoring moment, but there was still half a championship contest to negotiate.

In the eighth, Marksby caught Al Ghena with another hard right and followed with both hands. When the champion recovered, he returned to boxing rather than gambling everything on a finish. It was a sensible adjustment against an opponent still capable of making an ambitious attack uncomfortable.

Al Ghena’s ninth was a substantial reply. He worked to the body and found his uppercut, keeping the pressure on a challenger who had already invested considerable energy in his success. Marksby needed another response, and found it by recovering his rhythm and creating enough room to put his punches together again.

CompuBox recorded 156 successful punches from Marksby’s 804 attempts, against Al Ghena’s 124 from 456. The difference in activity was considerable, but the champion was more accurate overall, connecting with 27.2 per cent against 19.4 per cent.

The jab figures explained much of Marksby’s advantage. He landed 80 to Al Ghena’s 36. The champion held the lead in power punches, 88 to 76, while body connections were close, 33 for Marksby and 31 for Al Ghena. This was a contest between different kinds of effectiveness, rather than one man succeeding at everything.

The closing rounds favoured Marksby’s renewed output. CompuBox counted 19 connections for him in both the tenth and eleventh, followed by 14 in the last. Al Ghena managed 14, four and eight respectively. Those figures supported the impression that the challenger had found the stronger finish.

I thought Marksby deserved it because he kept giving Al Ghena something to defend before the next attack could develop. His jab bought him room, and his combinations made the pressure less effective than it looked. Al Ghena landed solid shots, particularly when he worked underneath, but too often followed instead of cutting off the ring. The knockdown showed Marksby’s timing, but I was more impressed by his recovery when the pressure returned. He found his rhythm again and finished the stronger.