James Metcalf won big in Bilbao, travelling on short notice to take on Kerman Lejarraga in the Basque country and returning with the WBA Continental Super-Welterweight title. His opponent has held a number of European and international honours throughout the course of his career and this success was well earned by the 33 year-old known as 'Kid Shamrock'.
Having enjoyed an eleven year professional career, the son of Liverpool fighting great Shea Neary, Metcalf is no stranger to success having previously held WBC and commonwealth belts. However, he has had to bounce back having suffered disappointing defeats to Ted Cheeseman and Kieron Conway at the end of 2021 top end his unbeaten record.
The fight took place just two months after he beat Evgenii Vazem via TKO in a much-needed win in April and places him right at the top of the super-welterweight rankings, putting him in line for a world title shot. His opponent had almost gone three years without a defeat, winning his last six fights to show the scale of Metcalf's away day success last month.
