A new Super Featherweight European Champion is Crowned
Zelfa The Brown Flash Barrett unifies his Commonwealth super-featherweight title and his IBF Inter-Continental super-featherweight title with his freshly acquired European Super Featherweight Title. A victory so emphatically his own that both his uncle and coach the Legend Pat “Black Flash ” Barrett and Zelfa’s mother whose first death anniversary was mourned simultaneously, were smiling with pride from the ring side. 
Faroukh Kourbanov showed true sportsmanship and endurance throughout the match. Attempting to counter, parry and make space for combinations and in the first two rounds his pace matched that of Zelfas. But as the rounds ticked down despite Faroukhs world class endurance, he began tiring out. With each consecutive round the punches stopped landing, the guard started dropping and the combinations from the Young Flash became indefensible.
Zelfa Flash dictated every round with complete authority, his pace, stamina and fitness truly shining through. And while he worked his fast paced combos on Faroukh he defended himself from every angle. Almost as if he had prepared for a much stronger fighter than the one presented that day.
By round 5, Zelfa had given Faroukh a bruise over his eye that caused some concern from the Belgium corner however with a quick dismissal, both fighters rejoined for another lightning clash. The variety of strikes coming from Zelfa was unpredictable, mixing in overhangs and uppercuts with his jabs and liver shots. Despite leading in strikes by a massive margin at no point in the fight did it seem Kourbanov considered quitting or losing heart. It was clear early in the match that Faroukh didn’t have a chance matching the athletic physical conditioning Black Flash Promotions had in store for him.
Zelfa completely overwhelmed Faroukh in the accounts of precision, striking, volume and variety, overall athleticism, pace and even stamina. He went the distance of 12 rounds without even breaking a sweat. Not to take away from the Kyrgyzstani Faroukh at all, he did his best in the moment and his endurance really played its part in keeping him on his feet. Towards the final rounds Faroukh remained high spirited and both fighters shared a hug in a beautiful moment of sportsmanship. But by the time the last bell rang Zelfa had already filled his money bag, worn the belt and was chatting up the commentary booth on his way out.
While leaning on the ropes and conversing with the commentary booth for a ringside interview, he was joined by his coach Pat Barrett and Chairman Eddie Hearn. Soon after the judges’ scorecards for all 12 rounds were revealed, the match was scored 120-108, 119-109, 118-110 in favor of Zelfa “the Brown Flash” Barrett.
A mixture of emotions were experienced as the anniversary of Zelfas Mothers passing was taken in by the crowd. He shed light on it later in the post match interview, sharing the love he received from both the fans, his uncle and his mother watching over him. He dedicated the fight to his Mum, pointing to the tattoo over his heart while holding up the belt.
RDX cannot contain how excited we are to see young Flash bringing in the wins and getting back in the ring. We have nothing but pride involving Zelfa and the Black Flash Promotion family. We can’t wait to see who he challenges next, which direction this victory slingshots the Super Featherweight and when he takes up the challenge of the IBF World Championship.
