Mark Jeffers raised his arms in confidence after ten completed rounds of action.

The tallying of the final scorecards caused a delay in the verdict but resulted in the most significant win to date for the unbeaten Chorley boxer who outpointed London’s Zak Chelli. Judges Victor Loughlin (97-94, John Latham (97-93) and Marcus McDonnell (97-94) all scored for Jeffers in their Sky Sports/ESPN+ televised super middleweight contest Saturday from AO Arena in Manchester, England.

Chelli (13-2-1, 6KOs) entered the fight with a seven-fight unbeaten streak and as the betting favorite. Jeffers (16-0, 4KOs) handled himself well in the step up in class, though he described the best win of his career as a “shit performance” in a fight he accepted on two weeks’ notice. Chelli was outworked at close quarters and was only able to close the scoring gap late in the fight after the verdict was well out reach for the Londoner.

Callum Simpson went more rounds than he had in his previous six combined fights. Far more was gained in his ten-round, unanimous decision win over Glasgow’s Boris Crighton as the unbeaten Englishman rose to the occasion in a much-needed step-up fight. Judges Victor Loughlin (99-92), Mark Lyson (97-93)   and Marcus McDonnell (99-91) all scored wide for Simpson.

The bout marked the first time in his career that Barnsley’s Simpson (12-0, 9KOs) saw the fifth round. He’d gone the four-round distance in his first two pro contests before he rattled off nine consecutive knockouts, all in three rounds or less.

Crighton (11-4, 7KOs) showed mettle as he stood up to Simpson’s power. There were moments in the second half when referee John Lathan was forced to give a long, hard look to the visiting Scotsman but Crighton remained upright and responsive enough to force the fight to go to the cards. Simpson’s chin was given a brief test when he was clipped with a right hand in the final round but took the shot well and closed strong for his latest victory.

Headlining the show, undisputed super middleweight champion Franchon Crews-Dezurn (8-1, 2KOs) of Baltimore, Maryland defends her crown versus Hartlepool’s Savannah Marshall (12-1, 10KOs). Also on the show, Liverpool’s WBC/IBF/WBO junior middleweight titlist Natasha Jonas (13-2-1, 8KOs) bids to become a two-division titlist as she faces Calgary’s Kandi Wyatt (11-4, 3KOs) for the vacant IBF welterweight title.

Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox