Estelle Mossely defeats Yanina Lescano in historic first women's main event in Middle East

Estelle Mossely scored a split decision victory over Yanina del Carmen Lescano at the Duty Free Tennis Stadium in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, after 10 rounds, in a groundbreaking event that pitted two women on a boxing main event for the first time in history in the Middle East.

The fight was a barnburner, with both fighters trading heavy leather throughout the battle, and both managed to hurt one another on multiple occasions.

However, there was no knockout. The judges were more impressed with France’s Mossely, who won on scores of 96-94 and 97-93, while a third judge scored it 96-94 for Lescano.

Mossely (10-1, 1 KO), 29, a 2016 Olympic gold medalist, admitted that she isn’t polished enough yet to give either Katie Taylor or Amanda Serrano, who meet next month in New York, a run for their money.

“It was a hard fight, I had not fought in more than a year, and she was very tough,” Mossely, now 10-0, said after her win. “I must have two or three more hard fights to be ready for a (title) bout with either Taylor or Serrano.”

The 26-year-old Lescano disagreed with the judges’ scorecards. Albeit she suffered her second loss as a pro, the Argentinian put up a better fight than expected.

Earlier in the evening, former title challenger Jono Carroll (22-2-1, 7 KOs) stopped previously unbeaten Patrick Ayi Aryee (21-1-1, 13 KOs).

O’Shaquie Foster (19-2, 11 KOs) dropped Muhammadkhuja Yaqubov (18-1, 10 KOs) in the 11th round en route to a unanimous decision victory in a scintillating lightweight affair.