The weekend held plentiful boxing action for fight fans, beginning on Friday night with Fonfara-Cleverly, and ending at the sold out Madison Square Garden’s Golovkin-Lemieux. For any readers chasing a quick roundup of the biggest bouts, here’s what you missed:
October 16th
Fonfara-Cleverly, Kono-Kameda
At the UIC Pavilion, Chicago, Andrzej Fonfara didn’t quite meet his match in Nathan Cleverly, but ended up eating more leather than many pundits had predicted. Cleverly started off strong, scoring with plenty of jabs and looping punches which found holes in Fonfara’s high guard. But by the middle rounds, Fonfara poured on the pressure, forcing Cleverly into a fight. The Pole broke the Brit’s nose in the 7th and began to force him back with full-blooded assaults. At the final bell, scores came in at 115-113, 116-112 (twice).
In the co-feature, Kono-Kameda, things were even more competitive, even if it didn’t show on the final scorecards of 115-109, 113-111, 116-108. Defending WBA Junior Bantamweight champ Kohei Kono had to work hard to hold onto his strap, with his higher work rate and 2nd round knockdown paying dividends in the action-packed 12-rounder. Unfortunately this bout also featured an ‘intrusive’ third man who docked Kameda two and Kono one point for holding and pushing.
See Boxing Base’s Fonfara-Cleverly, Kono-Kameda Report for more details, and catch PBC’s Highlights below:
October 17th
Eggington-Evans
At the Barclaycard Arena, Birmingham, England, Sam Eggington had an unexpectedly gruelling encounter with 10-day-notice replacement, Dale Evans. Before the bell chimed, serious boxing heads were labelling this an anti-climactic show-closer to the evening, but ended up eating those words when Evans scored a sublime knockdown in just the 2nd round.
It was an absolute peach of a shot, and probably one of the best right-hand counters you’ll ever see in a boxing ring. Not bad for a fight dubbed an absolute mismatch.
But Evans wasn’t the only tough nut in the ring. Eggington picked himself up off the canvas, saw out the round, and put his longer reach to good use for the remainder of the fight. Eggington deservedly won on scores of 117-110 (twice) and 116-110, but his determined underdog foe never stopped believing, and even rocked Eggington in the final round.
See Boxing Base’s Eggington-Evans Report, featuring a lively encounter between Matthew Macklin and Jason Welborn.
Give us your take on Fonfara-Cleverly, Eggington-Evans, and the rest of the weekend’s boxing action.
