Another “ShoBox” appearance, another controversial result for Zhora Hamazaryan.

The Armenian boxer secured a split draw with Sulaiman Segawa on Friday night in what was a difficult fight for Hamazaryan against an opponent who took their eight-round on less than one week’s notice. Judge Keith Thibadeaux scored six of the eight rounds for Segawa (78-74), but Todd Singletary scored the action for Hamazaryan (77-75) and Micky Lofton had it even (76-76).

Their draw opened Showtime’s “ShoBox: The New Generation” telecast from Hirsch Coliseum in Shreveport, Louisiana. It was the second straight “ShoBox” draw for Hamazaryan (9-1-2, 6 KOs), who had difficulty dealing with the Ugandan-born Segawa’s straight left hand.

A straight left by Segawa got Hamazaryan’s attention very early in the eighth round. By then, Segawa (13-2-1, 4 KOs) seemed to be on his way to scoring an upset.

Segawa’s left-right combination rocked Hamazaryan 15 seconds into the seventh round. A straight left by Segawa punctuated a dominant round for him just before the bell sounded to end the seventh.

A right hand by Hamazaryan snapped back Segawa’s head 1:15 into the sixth round. Hamazaryan oddly began gesturing to the crowd toward the end of the sixth round, which limited his punch output.

Hamazaryan went down 19 seconds into the fifth round, but referee Mark Nelson ruled that it was the result of a slip. Segawa’s straight left hand stopped Hamazaryan in his tracks just after the midway mark of the fifth.

A right hook by Segawa landed flush later in the fifth round. Hamazaryan’s right hand backed up Segawa just before the fifth round ended.

Hamazaryan landed two straight right hands within a 10-second span in the final minute of the fourth round. Segawa was able to sneak in a left uppercut several seconds later.

Segawa landed several left hands as Hamazaryan pressed forward in the third round.

Hamazaryan’s counter left connected as Segawa came in with his hands down 30 seconds into the second round. A straight right by Hamazaryan knocked Segawa off balance with just under a minute to go in the second.

A stiff jab by Hamazaryan and then a right hand backed Segawa into the ropes in the final 30 seconds of the second round.

Segawa landed a right hand from a far distance 1:20 into the opening round. Segawa also caught Hamazaryan with a left-right combination with just under a minute remaining in the first round and a three-punch combination later in the first.

Before Friday night, Hamazaryan hadn’t fought in the 16 months since settling for an eight-round split draw with Thomas Mattice in September 2018. Hamazaryan’s immediate rematch with Mattice took place just months following his highly controversial, split-decision defeat to Mattice in an eight-round bout.

Both Hamazaryan-Mattice matches were televised as part of the “ShoBox” series.

Segawa took this fight on four days’ notice because Hamazaryan’s original opponent, Jerry Perez, withdrew. The contract weight for this fight was moved up from 130 to 137 pounds to accommodate Segawa taking it on such short notice.

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.