Britain’s Caroline Dubois was taken the distance by Bo Mi Re Shin but claimed victory by majority decision to retain her IBF lightweight title at the Royal Albert Hall.
Dubois, 24, showed great shot selection and neat footwork to come through her second defence of the belt on the all-female card to mark International Women’s Day on Saturday.
The scorecards read 98-93 98-92 to Dubois, with one judge seeing it as a 95-95 draw.
“It was very rough and tough. Watching her fights previously with the team, that’s what she does. Charges in, head down and swings. She did exactly what I expected,” Dubois told Sky Sports.
“I feel like I need to learn how to fight on the inside. It’s one thing doing it in sparring, but it’s another thing doing it in the ring. The crowd, the lights, the judges, it’s important to master that. I tried to do it, I don’t know if I was successful but I tried.”
Dubois was upgraded to world champion after Katie Taylor vacated her belt. Her first defence, against Jessica Camara in January, ended in a technical draw after a clash of heads.
The Englishwoman is undefeated in 12 professional fights and has expressed a desire to be “undisputed champion by the end of the year”.
Underdog Shin was on a three-fight winning streak since losing a close decision to former world champion Delfine Persoon in May 2023.
The contest was chief support to the welterweight unification world-title fight between Natasha Jonas and Lauren Price, which takes place later on Friday.
Shin looked game in the opening round, landing a left hook as Dubois attacked the body, but the champion proved far too slick and sent the challenger stumbling across the ring with a right hook of her own.
Dubois invested in shots to the body early and showed great agility to create angles before resetting and coming again.
Shin was rocked twice in the fourth, initially by a three-punch combination before a Dubois right hook drew a reaction on the bell.
Trainer Shane McGuigan urged Dubois to take her time before round six and she responded by picking her shots more carefully.
South Korean Shin, who has not lost inside the distance in 23 previous fights, showed durability – even if she was unable to match the output of her opponent.
Dubois was stung with a straight right in the ninth and looked reckless in the final round as both fighters let their hands fly for a highly entertaining two minutes.
An all-British affair with WBO lightweight champion Terri Harper, who faces Natalie Zimmerman on 23 May, could be on the agenda for Dubois next, while Beatriz Ferreira holds the IBF belt and Stephanie Han is the WBA champion.
