NEW YORK — It wouldn’t be an O’Shaquie Foster fight without late round drama.

After an early rush from a determined Abraham Nova, Foster rallied over the final four rounds to hold onto his WBC junior lightweight title on Friday night, winning a split decision at The Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Two judges had it for Foster, 116-111 and 115-112, while the third had it 114-113 for Nova.

Foster (22-2, 10 knockouts) cemented his victory with a knockdown in the final 20 seconds, dropping an exhausted Nova with a short left hook along the ropes. Nova (23-2, 16 KOs) protested the call, but nearly hit the canvas again as the bell sounded to end the bout. Afterwards the crowd cheered for Nova, but it was Foster who spoke loudest with the win.

 “My rhythm was off tonight. It’s all good. We came home with the win, so I can’t complain. I’m a 12-round fighter and I know how to make judgements through the right. So, he came on strong in the beginning, but I found my rhythm and his timing, and then I started picking it off,” said Foster, who called for matchups against WBA titleholder Lamont Roach Jr. and the winner of Oscar Valdez vs. Liam Smith next.

Nova disputed the knockdown call but was gracious in defeat.

“O’Shaquie is a great fighter. He did hit me, but I did slip. I lost my balance. I wasn’t hurt. The fight would have been a draw if that hadn’t happened [Editor’s note: Foster would have still won had the knockdown not been called]. This is boxing. I know they probably think I wasn’t that good. But you guys see I’m a great fighter,” said Nova.

THE CHAMP FINISHES STRONG AGAIN 🍿 pic.twitter.com/W2xQ3CAX0f

— Top Rank Boxing (@trboxing) February 17, 2024

Foster, 30, of Orange, Texas surprised some by coming out as an orthodox fighter the first two rounds against the larger Nova, who had the better of the action with his longer jab.

Foster switched southpaw in third and began to neutralize his offense, landing well with his right hook. Nova had his best round of the fight in the fourth, rocking Foster with a series of right hands which put Foster on the defensive. The fast pace of that took something out of Nova, who began tops his jab and slap more with his power shots.

Foster appeared to hurt his right bicep in the fifth round, with his corner alternating between icing it and massaging it between rounds afterwards.

“I don’t want to make any excuses, but when I went to throw a right hand, his elbow hit the middle of my bicep, so it kind of tightened my stuff up,” said Foster.

Nova wasn’t ready to pack it in though, and though Foster was more accurate with power shots in the successive rounds, it was Nova who was coming forward and throwing more.

Just as was the case in his previous fight, a twelfth round come-from-behind stoppage of Eduardo Hernandez last October, Foster rallied strongly over the final third of the fight as Nova looked gassed and tried to hold on to slow the action. Foster hurt Nova with a series of punches near the end of the eleventh, and became more dominant as time progressed.

Nova, also 30, loses for the second time as a pro, having been knocked out in five rounds by Robeisy Ramirez in June of 2022.

Andres Cortes celebrates after scoring a big win at MSG. Photo by Carlo Estonactoc

In the co-featured bout, Andres Cortes (21-0, 12 KOs) of North Las Vegas took a big step towards title contention in the junior lightweight division, scoring a fourth round stoppage win over Puerto Rico’s Bryan Chevalier (20-2-1, 16 KOs).

Cortes, 26, couldn’t miss against the lanky Chevalier, hurting him badly in the third round and nearly finishing him. Chevalier made it out of the round, but Chevalier couldn’t recover, compelling his corner to request the bout be stopped about two minutes into the round.

Cortes’ dominance was reflected in Compubox stats as he landed a total of 72 power punches in the fight, compared to just 28 from Chevalier.

Ryan Songalia has written for ESPN, the New York Daily News, Rappler and The Guardian, and is part of the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism Class of 2020. He can be reached at [email protected].