Unbeaten Cuban Rances Barthelemy won a 12-round unanimous decision over Denis Shafikov to claim the vacant International Boxing Federation lightweight world title in Las Vegas.
Russian southpaw Shafikov was aggressive early, throwing punches from all angles.
But he was troubled by a bad cut over his right eye suffered in the seventh round, which had the ringside doctor taking a look in the eighth before letting the fight continue.
Barthelemy, who on Friday improved to 24-0 with 13 wins inside the distance, stepped up his attack in the eighth and gained the decision by scores of 119-109, 116-112 and 116-112.
He claimed the lightweight belt won by American Mickey Bey with a split decision over Mexico’s Miguel Vazquez last year.
Bey vacated the title rather than make a mandatory defense against Shafikov in July.
The triumph cemented Barthelemy’s arrival in the lightweight ranks. Owner of the IBF super featherweight world title last year, he dropped the belt to move up in weight.
The 29-year-old said before the bout he wanted the lightweight crown to be the second of “four or five” titles in different weight classes.
“That’s my ultimate goal,” he said.
For Shafikov, who fell to 36-2-1 with 19 knockouts, it was another defeat in a world title bid. In his only prior world title fight he dropped a unanimous decision to Vazquez.