Bell on the attack against Mark Barnaldez. Photo by Mikey Williams/ Top Rank
Unbeaten junior lightweight Albert Bell continues to rack up wins.
Bell defeated Nicolas Polanco via 10-round unanimous decision this past Saturday night at the Huntington Center in his hometown of Toledo, Ohio. The official scores were 100-90, 100-90 and 99-91 for Bell, who improves to 22-0 (6 knockouts).
Polanco, who resides in Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic, drops to 20-3-1 (11 KOs).
The Polanco victory marked Bell’s third fight of the year. In February, he scored a first-round knockout over Daulis Prescott before outpointing Martin Diaz (UD 10) two months later.
Shortly thereafter, Bell traveled to Melbourne, Australia, to serve as a sparring partner for then-Ring lightweight champion George Kambosos, who was preparing to face Devin Haney.
Promoter Vick Green is pleased with Bell’s progress and hopes he can fight once more before the end of 2022. But according to Team Bell, this might be more difficult than it sounds. Green claims there were preliminary talks to face then-unbeaten Chris Colbert earlier this year, but those talks quickly dissolved.
Bell, who fought under the Top Rank banner before an amicable split last year, has stated he is more than ready to face the best at 130 pounds.
That remains the challenge for Green, who will look to keep Bell busy if he can’t match him against the top junior lightweights.
“Albert looked extremely sharp (Saturday night),” Green told The Ring. “His jab and left hook landed at will. Polanco was no walk in the park. [he’s] extremely tough.
“Albert displayed why he is the guy at 130 pounds no one wants to face. I’m hoping Albert will fight again this year. That’s our goal.”
Francisco A. Salazar can be reached by email at [email protected] or on Twitter @FSalazarBoxing
