By Elliot Foster

Craig Kennedy fought through intense adversity to win a fringe belt.

The Cardiff cruiserweight was knocked down twice against Joel Tambwe Djeko at the Wales Ice Arena, as part of the undercard to Lee Haskins’ first IBF bantamweight world title defence against Ivan Morales of Mexico.

In a barnstormer over 10 rounds, in which Djeko knocked down the hometown man in the second and eighth rounds, the three scoring judges had the contest 95-93 (Djeko), 95-93 (Kennedy) and 95-93 (Kennedy), exclusively live on Channel 5, and it was televised after the main event.

There have been calls for the rematch and it’s one that many wouldn’t tire of seeing again.

Meanwhile, Conrad Cummings will look forward to his second Stateside appearance after securing a stoppage victory.

The Coalisland man, who campaigns at middleweight, ended the challenge of a tough Frankie Borg in the final of six scheduled rounds and is now 9-0-1 (4 KOs).

Cummings, 24, is now set for action at Barclays Center on July 30 as part of the undercard to gym-mate Carl Frampton’s challenge for the Super WBA featherweight world title against Leo Santa Cruz.

And Mitch Buckland scored a points victory over Mohamed Larabi after six stanzas.