Boxing Results: Josh Padley Stops Belmehdi

Josh Padley settled the EBU European super featherweight belt in two rounds, controlling Jaouad Belmehdi from the opening exchange and closing the fight once distance collapsed.

Padley set range with a steady jab, touched the body, and kept Belmehdi from setting his feet. A right hand landed against him in the first, taken without drama. The reply came immediately, heavier work inside, more volume, fewer gaps.

Belmehdi needs pressure to breathe. He never found it. Padley took away the step-in lanes and answered every attempt with punches in return. The jab did the early sorting. The body work narrowed options. By the end of the first, the pattern had settled.

The second round moved it along. Padley closed space on his terms, placed shots upstairs and downstairs, and scored two knockdowns inside the opening exchanges. The referee read the posture correctly and stopped it without delay.

A belt without debate

There was no dispute attached to the ending. Belmehdi could not keep his guard together and had stopped answering. Padley held the center and the pace, then finished when the opening arrived.

The win moved Padley to 18-1 with six stoppages and delivered his first European title. The route back from the late-notice loss to Shakur Stevenson stayed measured, with rounds against Marko Cvetanovic and Reece Bellotti restoring form and timing. Nothing from this night suggested a fighter carrying damage forward.

Belmehdi fell to 23-3-3. The pressure boxer-puncher never imposed himself once Padley shortened the exchanges.

Padley does not rely on tricks or flair. He works behind basics, repeats them, and closes when the chance shows. At European level, that holds. The next assignment will decide whether it holds a step higher.

Padley’s jab and inside work travel well at this division. This performance says he belongs where he stands. It does not promise more.

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