New IBO King Dayan Gonzalez issues chilling warning to the rest of the featherweight world champions
Last night, Friday, December 6, in Liverpool, Cuban KO King Dayan Gonzalez (16-0, 14KO) knocked out Thailand’s unbeaten Wira Mikham (16-1, 11KO) to claim the vacant IBO World featherweight title.
The unbeaten featherweights topped a stacked 10-fight card, promoted by Let’s Go Management in the Exhibition Centre in Liverpool.
The main event promised fireworks with both contenders sporting undefeated records and 24 KOs between them.
Based in Dubai, 24-year-old Gonzalez dropped 27-year-old Mikham with a huge right uppercut only a few seconds into the championship contest, which was stopped by referee John Latham on 44 seconds, making it the quickest knockout win in an IBO featherweight championship in history.
It’s Dayan’s 10th consecutive KO and the other four featherweight world champions have well and truly been put on notice.
The IBO featherweight belt has been worn by the likes of Prince Naseem and Marco Antonio Barrera in the past.
The featherweight division is one of, if not the, most talented and competitive weight classes in boxing right now.
WBC: Brandon Figueroa
WBA: Nick Ball
IBF: Angelo Leo
WBO: Rafael Espinoza
Undercard
On the undercard, Liverpool’s unbeaten bantamweight Jack Turner (10-0, 9KO) dropped Peru’s Piero Aponte (10-4-1, 1KO) three times to earn a first-round knockout. The 22-year-old powerful prospect, known as ‘El Terrier’, has now stopped nine of his 10 opponents to boast a fearsome 90% KO ratio. One to watch in 2025.
Former IBO World super-welterweight champion James Metcalf (26-2, 15KO) dusted off the ringrust from an 18-month layoff to secure a shutout six-round points win.
Salford’s ‘Super’ Alex Murphy moved up to 12-0 with an 80-72 score in his first-ever eight-round contest.