In a much closer than expected bout Japanese WBC Flyweight champion Toshiyuki Igarashi (17-1-1, 10) struggled past Argentinian challenger Nestor Daniel Narvaes (19-1-2, 9) in a bout that perhaps shows up the problem with the "Linear" championship. I'm sorry but there is no way on earth that we can really claim that Igarashi is better than either Brian Viloria or Hernan "Tyson" Marquez (who meet each other to decide the division's true #1 in my eyes, later this year).
Narvaes, the younger brother of current WBO Super Flyweight champion Omar Andres Narvaez, started the bout quickly and forced Igarashi to fight back from the opening bell as he really brought the fight to the champion with a very high work rate.
If things were hard for the champion from the off, they just got harder as Igarashi suffered nasty cuts over both eye brows and had to fight back with claret covering his eyes and his face noticeably marked up. It appeared that Narvaes, a real unknown in the boxing world, was on his way to an upset before Igarashi bit down hard and did just enough to claim the victory despite being deducted a point for a head clash.
The hellacious action and back and forth nature of the bout was always going to lead to close scores and it showed with Igarashi taking a majority decision with cards of 114-112 (twice) and 113-113.
For Igarashi my advice is stay from the other other top fighters in the division. He was lucky to be in the right place at the right time after Sonny Boy Jaro defeated a fading Pongsaklek Wonjongkam (who lost again earlier this week) and really shouldn't be regarded as the divisions best fighter. In all honesty, at best, Igarashi is the fourth best fighter in the division (also behind South African Moruti Mthalane). He could well do with a number of easier defenses in Japan to help him mature into a real champion thankfully the WBC rankings do have a few weaker options such as Oscar Blanquet (who has already fought in Japan) and Anuar Salas (who's ranking I simply cannot explain).
It's strange to have a "Linear" and "Ring" champion who isn't ready for a genuine top tier fighter, such as the other 3 "real" champions or the top contenders such as Rocky Fuentes or Milan Melindo, however as I said Igarashi was simply a lucky man to be in the right place at the right time.
For Narvaes this fight should really be a sign that he can copy his brother and become a world champion, however he's unfortunate to have lost here against the weakest champion in the division. It's fair to say that the other 3 champions would almost certainly have had an easier night with Narvaes than Igarashi did. If the little Argentinian cannot force a rematch I'd advise him to look towards an all Argentinian battle with current WBA "regular" champion Juan Carlos Reveco, as long as Reveco gets past Julian Rivera next weekend.
Saturday, 3 November 2012
Shinsuke Yamanaka v Tomas Rojas
WBC Bantamweight champion Shinsuke Yamanaka (17-0-2, 12) made the second successful defense of his title earlier today surprisingly stopping the generally durable Mexican veteran Tomas Rojas (39-14-1-1, 26).
The champion had established control of the bout early on using his power and skill to neutralise Rojas' reach advantage, however Rojas was certainly still game going in to the second half of the fight. Sadly for Rojas however Yamanaka hits hard and hits quite often as Rojas found out prior to being dropped, face first for the count in round 7 in one of the genuine knockout of the year contenders.
For the 32 year old Rojas this could well be the end of the line after a long 16 year career which has seen him facing genuinely a who's who of top tier boxers ranging from Rosendo Alvarez to Vic Darchinyan. Amazingly this is just the third time Rojas has been stopped with Yamanaka joining Vic Darchinyan and Jorge Arce and this was arguably the most vicious of the three.
With Rojas' career now in tatters it's fair to suggest that Yamanaka will rightfully be claiming the plaudits. This is a bought I genuinely expected to go the distance but Yamanaka's power wouldn't allow that to happen. I'd now like to see the 30 year old Japanese fighter in with one more top Bantamweight, be it domestic rival Koki Kameda (who faces Hugo Ruiz later this year) or exciting Thai Pungluang Sor Singyu (the current WBO champion) before perhaps looking to move up. Yamanaka is in a division that was red hot just a year or two ago however it's now somewhat weaker and aside from Anselmo Moreno (who may well end up staying at Super Bantamweight if he defeats Abner Mares) there is no one I'd expect to really give the Japanese fighter a real fight.
The champion had established control of the bout early on using his power and skill to neutralise Rojas' reach advantage, however Rojas was certainly still game going in to the second half of the fight. Sadly for Rojas however Yamanaka hits hard and hits quite often as Rojas found out prior to being dropped, face first for the count in round 7 in one of the genuine knockout of the year contenders.
For the 32 year old Rojas this could well be the end of the line after a long 16 year career which has seen him facing genuinely a who's who of top tier boxers ranging from Rosendo Alvarez to Vic Darchinyan. Amazingly this is just the third time Rojas has been stopped with Yamanaka joining Vic Darchinyan and Jorge Arce and this was arguably the most vicious of the three.
With Rojas' career now in tatters it's fair to suggest that Yamanaka will rightfully be claiming the plaudits. This is a bought I genuinely expected to go the distance but Yamanaka's power wouldn't allow that to happen. I'd now like to see the 30 year old Japanese fighter in with one more top Bantamweight, be it domestic rival Koki Kameda (who faces Hugo Ruiz later this year) or exciting Thai Pungluang Sor Singyu (the current WBO champion) before perhaps looking to move up. Yamanaka is in a division that was red hot just a year or two ago however it's now somewhat weaker and aside from Anselmo Moreno (who may well end up staying at Super Bantamweight if he defeats Abner Mares) there is no one I'd expect to really give the Japanese fighter a real fight.
Saturday, 27 October 2012
Miguel Vazquez v Marvin Quintero
In a less that entertaining bout Miguel Vazquez (32-3, 13) successfully retained his IBF Lightweight title against the hard hitting Marvin Quintero (25-4, 21) in a bout that really failed to ever come alive.
The champion claimed a number of the early rounds via his movement and jab whilst Quintero, who applied constant pressure, threw little and seemed to be chasing Vazquez as opposed to punching him. Despite Vazquez's successes early on Quintero gradually cut the distance and in the middle rounds the challenger was starting to win rounds and tag the champion time and time again.
By round 8 the bout had really closed up and there was really only a round in it either way as Quintero started to enforce his will on the bout. Despite the huge gulf in technical skill Vazquez wasn't boxing any longer, instead of punching and moving he was almost running away and forcing Quintero to chase him and make the fight, something he did and he did well. The bought didn't widen in either rounds 9 or 10 as both men made legitimate claims for both of the rounds, which meant it was all to fight for in the championship rounds.
With the bout so close it was amazing to see Vazquez really impose himself in round 11, a round that he won so clearly that it was probably the most dominant single round of the fight (despite the fact Quintero didn't land a punch in the opening round according to Compubox). The penultimate round really showed the class of "Titere" who landed at will and completely neutralised Quintero. This lead to Quintero really chasing the fight in the final round and whilst Quintero just won the round on my card, he failed to score the knock down that could have won him the fight.
When it came to the scorecards there was enough close rounds to understand a wide selections of scores and perhaps understandably the judges were split. The first card read out was a 115-113 in favour of Quintero, the second card was 116-112 Vazquez (the same score as I had it) though the third card was simply ludicrous seeing Vazquez as the winner 118-110.
The decision was booed though that may have more to do with the lack of action early on and the third scorecard which deserved a round of boos on it's own. Score cards of 116-112 EITHER way would have been understandable, but 118-110 was a joke card I'm afraid.
This should have been a chance for Vazquez to make an impression though sadly he failed to box to the best of his ability. He spent too much time running and not enough time boxing, and as a result won't have made many new fans tonight. In fact if anyone was the "real winner" here it was Quintero who will almost certainly be on HBO due to the fact he appears to be fun to watch. He's not the most skilled or the most durable but he'll be fun on the fringes of the world level and in fact the perfect opponent for Ricky Burns to make his mark on America against.
The champion claimed a number of the early rounds via his movement and jab whilst Quintero, who applied constant pressure, threw little and seemed to be chasing Vazquez as opposed to punching him. Despite Vazquez's successes early on Quintero gradually cut the distance and in the middle rounds the challenger was starting to win rounds and tag the champion time and time again.
By round 8 the bout had really closed up and there was really only a round in it either way as Quintero started to enforce his will on the bout. Despite the huge gulf in technical skill Vazquez wasn't boxing any longer, instead of punching and moving he was almost running away and forcing Quintero to chase him and make the fight, something he did and he did well. The bought didn't widen in either rounds 9 or 10 as both men made legitimate claims for both of the rounds, which meant it was all to fight for in the championship rounds.
With the bout so close it was amazing to see Vazquez really impose himself in round 11, a round that he won so clearly that it was probably the most dominant single round of the fight (despite the fact Quintero didn't land a punch in the opening round according to Compubox). The penultimate round really showed the class of "Titere" who landed at will and completely neutralised Quintero. This lead to Quintero really chasing the fight in the final round and whilst Quintero just won the round on my card, he failed to score the knock down that could have won him the fight.
When it came to the scorecards there was enough close rounds to understand a wide selections of scores and perhaps understandably the judges were split. The first card read out was a 115-113 in favour of Quintero, the second card was 116-112 Vazquez (the same score as I had it) though the third card was simply ludicrous seeing Vazquez as the winner 118-110.
The decision was booed though that may have more to do with the lack of action early on and the third scorecard which deserved a round of boos on it's own. Score cards of 116-112 EITHER way would have been understandable, but 118-110 was a joke card I'm afraid.
This should have been a chance for Vazquez to make an impression though sadly he failed to box to the best of his ability. He spent too much time running and not enough time boxing, and as a result won't have made many new fans tonight. In fact if anyone was the "real winner" here it was Quintero who will almost certainly be on HBO due to the fact he appears to be fun to watch. He's not the most skilled or the most durable but he'll be fun on the fringes of the world level and in fact the perfect opponent for Ricky Burns to make his mark on America against.
Takahiro Ao v Gamaliel Diaz
In this first of this weekends title fights we saw a noteworthy upset as Japanese fighter Takahiro Ao (23-3-1, 10) lost his WBC Super Featherweight title to Mexican Gamaliel Diaz (37-9-2, 17) via decision, despite the fact Diaz was the visiting fighter.
Despite going in to the bout as the under-dog, the upset minded Diaz (who also holds wins over Elio Rojas and Robert Guerrero) managed to rip the title away from Ao in a rather uninteresting fight. The bout started well for Diaz who managed to land long right hands from the off and whilst Ao looked for the counters he was simply getting tagged far too often early on.
Diaz's domination would see him becoming more confident and sadly his confidence was punished as he was deducted points for low blows, however even the deductions wouldn't deny him as he repeatedly threw his looping right hand and repeatedly found the target. Sadly for Ao he didn't seem to have a plan B and even when he upped his own work rate he failed to really force the issue, in fact when he looked to force the bout he merely suffered a cut as Diaz continued to to be the accurate aggressor.
Whilst a rematch is possible, I'd imagine that Diaz will look to "cash out" and make a name in the US. Although he's not the most talented he's a fighter who is confident and on a 14 fight winning streak and a fight with someone Diego Magdaleno could be very interesting. Despite being experienced I don't see Diaz holding the title for long.
For Ao this was a major learning experience. In terms of raw skills he's a much, much better fighter than he showed, he fought the wrong game plan and was punished and hopefully this will serve as a lesson that he will need to do more if he can encourage Diaz to give him a rematch. If Ao cannot get a rematch he will perhaps be looking for a bout with countryman Takashi Uchiyama or some confidence rebuilding "easy" wins.
Despite going in to the bout as the under-dog, the upset minded Diaz (who also holds wins over Elio Rojas and Robert Guerrero) managed to rip the title away from Ao in a rather uninteresting fight. The bout started well for Diaz who managed to land long right hands from the off and whilst Ao looked for the counters he was simply getting tagged far too often early on.
Diaz's domination would see him becoming more confident and sadly his confidence was punished as he was deducted points for low blows, however even the deductions wouldn't deny him as he repeatedly threw his looping right hand and repeatedly found the target. Sadly for Ao he didn't seem to have a plan B and even when he upped his own work rate he failed to really force the issue, in fact when he looked to force the bout he merely suffered a cut as Diaz continued to to be the accurate aggressor.
Whilst a rematch is possible, I'd imagine that Diaz will look to "cash out" and make a name in the US. Although he's not the most talented he's a fighter who is confident and on a 14 fight winning streak and a fight with someone Diego Magdaleno could be very interesting. Despite being experienced I don't see Diaz holding the title for long.
For Ao this was a major learning experience. In terms of raw skills he's a much, much better fighter than he showed, he fought the wrong game plan and was punished and hopefully this will serve as a lesson that he will need to do more if he can encourage Diaz to give him a rematch. If Ao cannot get a rematch he will perhaps be looking for a bout with countryman Takashi Uchiyama or some confidence rebuilding "easy" wins.
Monday, 22 October 2012
Omar Andres Narvaez v Johnny Garcia
Talented Argentinian Omar Andres Narvaez (37-1-2, 20) successfully defended his WBO Super Flyweight title for the fifth time as he stopped Mexican Johnny Garcia (16-4-1, 8) in the 11th round of an impressive and emotionally charged bout.
The bout, first scheduled for Wednesday, was delayed following the death of Narvaez's father and in the opening round Narvaez did look like his mind was else where as he spent much of the round outside of his own range behind his high guard, allowing Garcia to hit his arms. Midway through round 2 however Narvaez seemed to realise he was in a fight and tried to launch his own hard shorts, often leaping at the much bigger Garcia with big left hands whilst frustrating the challenger with clever movement. Through the first 3 rounds Garcia seemed to be in the lead thanks to hi aggressiveness, however he was looking wild and sent himself to the canvas at one point whilst swinging at Narvaez.
By the mid point of the fourth round you could see Garcia gradually getting more frustrated with Narvaez and not only was Garcia missing a lot, but he was wasting a lot of energy against a very tricky Narvaez who, whilst not winning the fight at this point, was starting to tire the much younger Garcia. In round 5 Narvaez started to close the range and whilst he didn't do enough to really stamp his authority on the round, he seemed to have finally started to warm to the bout, however the round was sadly rather stop start after a number of accidental fouls by the challenger.
In round 6 the snap seemed to have gone from Garcia as Narvaez started to turn the screw and stood in the pocket and looked like he was really getting in the groove in his most impressive round up to that point. If the sixth was Narvaez finding his groove then the seventh was Narvaez showing a mean streak as he continued to stand in the pocket and land numerous, hurtful shots, almost appearing to take his emotions out on Garcia's head and body in a hugely impressive round that saw Garcia dropped officially for the first time in the bout.
As Garcia went back to his corner following round 7 he appeared to be a beaten man whilst Narvaez seemed to be a man with bad thoughts on in his mind. Surprisingly however Garcia came out for round 8 looking like a rejuvenated fighter before a nasty clash of heads had both men wincing with Garcia being deducted a point. Late in round 8 Narvaez seemed to look for the stoppage but Garcia managed to survive thanks to some confusion by both men regarding the end of the round.
Although Narvaez was controlling the bout it wasn't until the final minute of round 11 that he made his control really count for something as he dropped Garcia 3 times forcing the referee to wave the bout off and give Narvaez his first stoppage victory since moving up from Flyweight. Interestingly it's the third time Narvaez has stopped an opponent in the 11th round (with his last stoppage also being in the 11th round).
At 37 years old Narvaez is on the slide. He proved he still has the speed, skills and movement to hang with younger fighters though I wouldn't be surprised if he were to announce his retirement in the next few months, maybe going out with 1 more fight to finish a memorable, if under-rated career. For Garcia however I think we'll probably see him again as a perennial but limited challenger.
The bout, first scheduled for Wednesday, was delayed following the death of Narvaez's father and in the opening round Narvaez did look like his mind was else where as he spent much of the round outside of his own range behind his high guard, allowing Garcia to hit his arms. Midway through round 2 however Narvaez seemed to realise he was in a fight and tried to launch his own hard shorts, often leaping at the much bigger Garcia with big left hands whilst frustrating the challenger with clever movement. Through the first 3 rounds Garcia seemed to be in the lead thanks to hi aggressiveness, however he was looking wild and sent himself to the canvas at one point whilst swinging at Narvaez.
By the mid point of the fourth round you could see Garcia gradually getting more frustrated with Narvaez and not only was Garcia missing a lot, but he was wasting a lot of energy against a very tricky Narvaez who, whilst not winning the fight at this point, was starting to tire the much younger Garcia. In round 5 Narvaez started to close the range and whilst he didn't do enough to really stamp his authority on the round, he seemed to have finally started to warm to the bout, however the round was sadly rather stop start after a number of accidental fouls by the challenger.
In round 6 the snap seemed to have gone from Garcia as Narvaez started to turn the screw and stood in the pocket and looked like he was really getting in the groove in his most impressive round up to that point. If the sixth was Narvaez finding his groove then the seventh was Narvaez showing a mean streak as he continued to stand in the pocket and land numerous, hurtful shots, almost appearing to take his emotions out on Garcia's head and body in a hugely impressive round that saw Garcia dropped officially for the first time in the bout.
As Garcia went back to his corner following round 7 he appeared to be a beaten man whilst Narvaez seemed to be a man with bad thoughts on in his mind. Surprisingly however Garcia came out for round 8 looking like a rejuvenated fighter before a nasty clash of heads had both men wincing with Garcia being deducted a point. Late in round 8 Narvaez seemed to look for the stoppage but Garcia managed to survive thanks to some confusion by both men regarding the end of the round.
Although Narvaez was controlling the bout it wasn't until the final minute of round 11 that he made his control really count for something as he dropped Garcia 3 times forcing the referee to wave the bout off and give Narvaez his first stoppage victory since moving up from Flyweight. Interestingly it's the third time Narvaez has stopped an opponent in the 11th round (with his last stoppage also being in the 11th round).
At 37 years old Narvaez is on the slide. He proved he still has the speed, skills and movement to hang with younger fighters though I wouldn't be surprised if he were to announce his retirement in the next few months, maybe going out with 1 more fight to finish a memorable, if under-rated career. For Garcia however I think we'll probably see him again as a perennial but limited challenger.
Pungluang Sor Singyu v AJ Banal
In one of this past weekends "forgotten" fights, Thai Pungluang Sor Singyu (43-1, 28) claimed the WBO Bantamweight title by traveling to the Philippines and stopping the highly touted Filipino AJ Banal (28-2-1, 20) in 9 rounds.
The bout started well for Banal who appeared to be the sharper, quicker boxer and it was he who certainly took a number of the early rounds as Singyu was made to look like a pretty average plodder.
Despite the great start for Banal, Singyu started to work his way into the bout and by round 5 was visibly getting to the Filipino who was seemed to be slowing just as Singyu was finding his own rhythm. By round 6 Banal was showing the damage of war as an accidental clash of heads opened a nasty cut above his right eye and it was also the same round that saw Banal deducted a point for a low blow.
The tough looking Thai seemed to grow in confidence from the blood on Banal's face and started to really chip away at Banal's resolve before dropping him twice in the ninth round and bloodying his face further before referee Tony Weeks stopped the contest. Although Banal was on his feet when he was stopped, he was a broken man and a badly beaten fighter who had been gradually beaten to a stand still.
After the fight Banal apparently mentioned that he's considering retirement from the sport, a real shame as the 23 year old still has a lot to give the sport and is still a talented fighter who will almost certainly be able to come again. For Singyu however this should be a launch pad for him to be able to really make a name for himself. He's rebuilt his career well since suffering his lone defeat to the talented Belgian Stephane Jamoye (by split decision back in 2009).
With a number of top tier Bantamweight's based in the east, it's difficult to imagine Singyu not facing someone like compatriot Suriyan Sor Rungvisai or even Filipino Rolly Matsushita.
The bout started well for Banal who appeared to be the sharper, quicker boxer and it was he who certainly took a number of the early rounds as Singyu was made to look like a pretty average plodder.
Despite the great start for Banal, Singyu started to work his way into the bout and by round 5 was visibly getting to the Filipino who was seemed to be slowing just as Singyu was finding his own rhythm. By round 6 Banal was showing the damage of war as an accidental clash of heads opened a nasty cut above his right eye and it was also the same round that saw Banal deducted a point for a low blow.
The tough looking Thai seemed to grow in confidence from the blood on Banal's face and started to really chip away at Banal's resolve before dropping him twice in the ninth round and bloodying his face further before referee Tony Weeks stopped the contest. Although Banal was on his feet when he was stopped, he was a broken man and a badly beaten fighter who had been gradually beaten to a stand still.
After the fight Banal apparently mentioned that he's considering retirement from the sport, a real shame as the 23 year old still has a lot to give the sport and is still a talented fighter who will almost certainly be able to come again. For Singyu however this should be a launch pad for him to be able to really make a name for himself. He's rebuilt his career well since suffering his lone defeat to the talented Belgian Stephane Jamoye (by split decision back in 2009).
With a number of top tier Bantamweight's based in the east, it's difficult to imagine Singyu not facing someone like compatriot Suriyan Sor Rungvisai or even Filipino Rolly Matsushita.
Sunday, 21 October 2012
Hassan N'Dam N'Jikam v Peter Quillin
American Peter Quillin (28-0, 20) successfully claimed the WBO Middleweight title after winning an interesting bout with French based-Cameroon born Hassan N'Dam N'Jikam (27-1, 17) in a bout that saw someone's 0 needing to go.
The bout started well for the defending champion who appeared to clearly take the opening 3 rounds with a combination of his fast, accurate hands and his excellent movement which at times left Quillin looking clueless. In round 4 however Quillin had his first real moments of success as he tagged N'Dam for the first time before twice dropping N'Dam N'Jikam to score a 10-7 round and bring the scores level on my card at 37-37. At this point it seemed clear that Quillin was going to stop N'Dam N'Jikam.
Following the excellent 4th round for Quillin it was surprising to see him give away the initiative the following round as N'Dam N'Jikam was allowed to recover his legs and regain the lead on my card. Quillin didn't once try to force the issue and although he stalked his man he simply refused to let his hands go enough to take advantage of a still shaken N'Dam N'Jikam.
Amazingly despite giving away round 5, Quillin came out in round 6 with bad intentions and again dropped N'Dam N'Jikam twice to claim a second 10-7 round. This round also saw Quillin inflicting a nasty looking cut over his opponents eye and once again it appeared as if Quillin was heading towards a clear stoppage win. N'Dam N'Jikam was really looking hurt when he was tagged and on a number of occasions appeared done though showed amazing heart and fantastic recuperative ability.
Shockingly in round 7 Quillin again allowed N'Dam N'Jikam off the hook and instead of going in for the kill he sat on the ropes and allowed N'Dam N'Jikam to out work him and re-establish himself. It was bizarre that Quillin didn't try and finish off his man whilst he was still hurt for a second time and instead allowed N'Dam N'Jikam to claim the round with real ease.
N'Dam N'Jikam built on his success from round 7 and appeared to sweep rounds 9-11 with his superior work rate nd actually appeared to hurt Quillin at several points as some thought he may just have sneaked into the lead. Sadly for N'Dam however his fate was sealed in the last 30 seconds of the bout as Quillin dropped him twice to claim a third 10-7 round and also claim a very narrow win.
Despite only clearly winning 3 rounds Quillin's power had been the difference between the two men as those 3 10-7 rounds were the difference between winning and losing on my card. Sadly however the official judges (who all posted cards of 115-107) appeared to have failed to credit N'Dam N'Jikam for his success, and scoring the bout 7-5 in favour of Quillin was a joke. No argument with Quillin winning, the knockdowns secured him the win, but giving Quillin 7 rounds is a real, real travesty.
The bout started well for the defending champion who appeared to clearly take the opening 3 rounds with a combination of his fast, accurate hands and his excellent movement which at times left Quillin looking clueless. In round 4 however Quillin had his first real moments of success as he tagged N'Dam for the first time before twice dropping N'Dam N'Jikam to score a 10-7 round and bring the scores level on my card at 37-37. At this point it seemed clear that Quillin was going to stop N'Dam N'Jikam.
Following the excellent 4th round for Quillin it was surprising to see him give away the initiative the following round as N'Dam N'Jikam was allowed to recover his legs and regain the lead on my card. Quillin didn't once try to force the issue and although he stalked his man he simply refused to let his hands go enough to take advantage of a still shaken N'Dam N'Jikam.
Amazingly despite giving away round 5, Quillin came out in round 6 with bad intentions and again dropped N'Dam N'Jikam twice to claim a second 10-7 round. This round also saw Quillin inflicting a nasty looking cut over his opponents eye and once again it appeared as if Quillin was heading towards a clear stoppage win. N'Dam N'Jikam was really looking hurt when he was tagged and on a number of occasions appeared done though showed amazing heart and fantastic recuperative ability.
Shockingly in round 7 Quillin again allowed N'Dam N'Jikam off the hook and instead of going in for the kill he sat on the ropes and allowed N'Dam N'Jikam to out work him and re-establish himself. It was bizarre that Quillin didn't try and finish off his man whilst he was still hurt for a second time and instead allowed N'Dam N'Jikam to claim the round with real ease.
N'Dam N'Jikam built on his success from round 7 and appeared to sweep rounds 9-11 with his superior work rate nd actually appeared to hurt Quillin at several points as some thought he may just have sneaked into the lead. Sadly for N'Dam however his fate was sealed in the last 30 seconds of the bout as Quillin dropped him twice to claim a third 10-7 round and also claim a very narrow win.
Despite only clearly winning 3 rounds Quillin's power had been the difference between the two men as those 3 10-7 rounds were the difference between winning and losing on my card. Sadly however the official judges (who all posted cards of 115-107) appeared to have failed to credit N'Dam N'Jikam for his success, and scoring the bout 7-5 in favour of Quillin was a joke. No argument with Quillin winning, the knockdowns secured him the win, but giving Quillin 7 rounds is a real, real travesty.
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