A world champion boxer fought for 6 rounds with a nasty gash pouring blood on himself and his opponent, then scored a crunching knockout

• Artur Beterbiev won a bloody fight against Marcus Browne to retain his WBC and IBF light heavyweight world titles.
• The two fighters clashed heads in the fourth round, leaving Beterbiev pouring with blood.

Russian boxer Artur Beterbiev won a bloody battle against America's Marcus Browne on Friday night to retain his WBC and IBF light heavyweight world championships.

The pair clashed heads in round four leaving Beterbiev with a huge gash which continued to pour blood throughout the fight.

The 36-year-old's undefeated record was in jeopardy at the beginning of the fifth when the referee told him he may only be allowed to fight one more round due to the cut.

However, thanks to his cut man, Luc Vincent Ouellet, he was able to continue and went on to knock Browne down twice before finishing him off with a brutal uppercut in the ninth to win by knockout.

Though the clash of heads was deemed accidental by the referee, Beterbiev said after his victory that he believed Browne had headbutted him on purpose.

"I am convinced that it was intentional. 1000%," Beterbiev told Mathieu Boulay of Le Journal de Montreal, according to Boxing Scene.

"I don't like it when boxers do things like that. I found that unsportsmanlike and dirty. Certain southpaws are good boxers and have beautiful skills, but not [Browne]."

He also said the gash had affected him throughout the fight.

"During rounds five and six, I felt that Browne was beginning to slow down, but I wasn't sure," he said. "I thought that that could be a tactic. On the other hand, I was mainly preoccupied with my cut and the fact that the fight could be stopped."

—Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) December 18, 2021

Beterbiev's win means he has now won every single one of his 17 professional fights by knockout. He is the only world champion in the entire sport to hold such a record.

He is now being hotly tipped to fight Saul "Canelo" Alvarez in what would be one of the most fascinating fights of recent times.

Canelo is already a four-weight world champion and has been granted permission by the WBC to enter a fifth division and challenge cruiserweight champion Ilunga Makabu.

Top Rank owner Bob Arum told Sky Sports that Canelo — who previously beat Sergey Kovalev at light-heavyweight — told him he is keen to fight Beterbiev in the future.

"He has expressed interest to me," said Arum. "Some will say Beterbiev is too big and powerful. Others will say Canelo is special and can handle everybody. It is one of the biggest fights in boxing."

Beterbiev himself also said he is open to fighting Canelo.

"Listen, of course I am open to fighting Canelo if he wants to return to the light heavyweight division," he told Boxing Scene after Friday night's win over Browne.

"I always want to fight the best, and he is a great fighter."