He Was Robbed

Ugandan boxer Abdul Tebazalwa’s failure to secure a knock-out against Choi Tseveenpurev detonated his chances to snatch the WBF featherweight belt.

[Boxing]

Three recent fights prove that the old adage is true—the best way to win in boxing is by knockout.

In a fight here in the U.K. on Sunday, Ugandan boxer Abdul Tebazalwa’s failure to secure a knock-out against Choi Tseveenpurev detonated his chances to snatch the WBF featherweight belt. Yet he dominated the fight, forcing the entire Tara Leisure Centre audience that had been rooting for the champion into deathly silence.

The split decision bout which favored the WBF Champion Tseveenpurev and left many boxing scribes seated at the ring-side wondering the yard stick used. Was it the politics of the game?

Across the ocean in the United States recently, Jameel McCline knocked heavyweight champion Samuel Peter three times, but the Nigerian recovered to demolish the challenger in the later rounds; we week before that, in a thrilling fight, Jermaine had knocked down challenger Kelly Pavlik twice and all but finished him in their title fight. Pavlik recovered to knock Taylor out.

Here in the U.K., ring-side boxing writers and this reporter scored the fight for Tebazalwa, also known as Cobra. The three fight judges gave the Ugandan 113 to 110; a second gave the fight 118 to 114 for Choi and a third 109 to 101 for the champ.

“Abdul has been robbed of the title. I can tell you, Abdul has won the fight, but I don’t know what happened to the judges not to stand firm and do their job without undue-influence,” says the President of Professional Boxing Scandinavia, Rolf Traff.

Traff added that, “There is no doubt Abdul dominated the fight right from the fourth round. But this is unbelievable for the judges to decide otherwise.”

Boxing agent, Danny Lutaaya, finds a silver lining in the clouds: “This good for Abdul, it’s his first time to fight with such atmosphere. He has opened up his avenues. Though, the fight has been given in favor of the reigning champion this shouldn’t deter Abdul. This is his first loss, yet the champion had four losses before this fight.”

Choi improves to 25 wins and 4 losses. He was rocked throughout the fight and bled from the Ugandan’s ferocious punches.
The Cobra is now 10-1 (7 Kos) with a single draw. “I don’t think he is even happy with the results. I knew that, I would land him a KO and win a fight, but the guy has a strong head,” the Cobra says.

Investigative news reporter Miwambo writers for The Black Star News from the U.K. He is also an avid sports fan.

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