Top five-ranked light heavyweight prospect Ali Izmailov remained undefeated in winning the biggest test of his young career, a close unanimous decision over fellow unbeaten Charles Foster in a main event showdown on ShoBox: The New Generation on Hall of Fame Weekend from Turning Stone Resort Casino in Verona, N.Y.

Izmailov (11-0, 7 KOs), fighting out of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and ShoBox alum Foster (22-1, 12 KOs) of New Haven, Conn., mixed it up for 10 rounds in a fight that many thought could have gone either way. In the end, the three judges agreed that Izmailov’s body work and a knockdown in the closing seconds of the fifth round were enough to earn him the hard-fought win by scores of 95-94 and 96-93 twice.

“I didn’t even listen to the scores,” said Izmailov, trained by John David Jackson. “I knew it wasn’t close. I knew I won. I wasn’t even thinking it was even close.”

In a night that featured six fighters with unbeaten records, Foster became the third fighter on the night to lose his perfect record and became the 228th fighter in the series’ 22-year history to lose his “0” on SHOBOX.

Izmailov dropped Foster with a powerful right-hand jab at the end of the fifth round. Seconds after the knockdown, Foster returned to his corner and told trainer Luis Rosa, Sr., he injured his right shoulder at the start of the fifth round.

“I know I’m a big strong light heavyweight,” said Foster, whose only other ShoBox appearance was a victory five years ago in Philadelphia. “After the knockdown I made an adjustment and took the fight to him, and he didn’t know what to do. He couldn’t handle it. They build these guys up to be big monsters, but he doesn’t hit as hard as they say. He hits hard, but nothing special. Once I went to his body, everything changed.”

Izmailov said he was “very frustrated by [Foster’s] holding,” adding: “He didn’t want to fight. That’s why he held so much. He knew what would happen if he fought me.”

The fight was so close stats wise, that both Izmailov and Foster landed the same amount of punches overall with Izmailov 113 for 385 (29%) to Foster’s 113 of 532 (21%). The difference proved to be the power punching of Izmailov as he held a 94 to 72 advantage and the fifth-round knockdown.