Monaco - Cecilia Braekhus moved closer to a huge showdown against Katie Taylor after successfully defending her undisputed Welterweight crown against tough Argentinian Victoria Bustos. (photos by Mark Robinson)

The Norwegian 38-year-old had been out of the ring for almost a year but returned in style, dominating former two-weight World Champion Victoria Bustos over ten rounds - earning scores of 99-91 and 98-92 twice.

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'First Lady', economical with her variety of punches, went through the gears and showed her class as she made her 25th straight World Title defence. After a glowing start to life under the Matchroom Boxing banner, Braekhus is now set to meet Taylor in a mouthwatering battle of undisputed champions.

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Alexander Besputin took three scores of 116-112 to land the vacant WBA Welterweight World Title against fellow Russian Radzhab Butaev at the Casino de Monte-Carlo earlier this evening, live on Sky Sports in the UK and DAZN in the US.

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Besputin had that bit more quality, showcasing brilliant footwork and head movement, as he improved his record to 14-0 after a brilliant and brutal battle for the 147lbs crown.

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Undefeated Chinese Heavyweight star Zhilei Zhang got some much-needed rounds under his belt as he returned from a 14 month absence from the ring to beat Ukraine's Andriy Rudenko over ten rounds to retain his WBO Oriental title.

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'Big Bang' dominated the contest to remain unbeaten, taking scores of 99-91, 98-92 and 97-93, but did tire late on and failed to capitalise on some clear stoppage opportunities. The 6' 6", 278-pound Zhang (21-0, 16 KOs) buzzed Rudenko with a straight left hand with just over a minute to go in the third round, but he couldn’t finish off the durable Ukrainian veteran.

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