Callum Smith’s light heavyweight campaign continued in spectacular fashion as he knocked out Mathieu Bauderlique in a WBC title eliminator. The 175lb bout was the pick of the action on the undercard of Oleksandr Usyk’s rematch with Anthony Joshua for the WBA, WBO, IBF and The Ring heavyweight championships. The Liverpudlian was dragged into a bit of a shootout with the Olympic bronze medalist at King Abdullah Sports City in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, but his superior power saw him through.
Bauderlique was rocked in the early exchanges but fired back with a good left. The former super middleweight champion Smith took centre ring as the session came to a close. ‘Mundo’ got the best of the exchanges in the second round, but what exchanges they were. The Frenchman played his part in some sensational salvos. Smith tried to temper the red-hot action in the third, boxing behind his jab for the first time. Bauderlique successfully dragged Smith into a war once again though, and had some of his best moments of the fight.
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The fourth round saw Smith land a massive left hook to knock down his opponent. Bauderlique rose but was never the same. He shipped hard shots to head and body along the ropes before another superb left ended his night early.
Any doubts that Smith’s power would travel with him up to 175lbs have been erased with highlight-reel knockouts of Bauderlique tonight and Lenin Castillo back in September. Smith now looks set to await the winner of the mooted fight between WBC, WBO and IBF champion Artur Beterbiev and Anthony Yarde.
The battle of the unbeaten heavyweights was a bizarre but intermittently interesting affair. Filip Hrgovic won a unanimous decision over Zhang Zhilei, but had to climb off the canvas in the process. The canvas ended up having a big role to play in the fight, with both fighters complaining about how slippery it was and Zhang actually losing his footing on one occasion.
Zhang scored a knockdown in the opening round with a cuffing right hook that appeared to land on the back of Hrgovic’s head. It was the first time ‘El Animal’ had been down and he was still shaken up at the bell. Hrgovic fired off some eye-catching combinations in the second round but Olympic silver medalist Zhang landed the bigger shots in the third. During that round a clash of heads opened cuts on both men, but thankfully they were not a factor in the outcome.
Hrgovic looked tired even early on and ‘Big Bang’ took advantage. Zhang took the fourth as Hrgovic looked uncomfortable under fire from some crushing uppercuts. He had his man rocked again in the sixth as the upset looked on. Ripping hooks got Hrgovic back into the fight in the seventh and eighth.
Zhang was beginning to look weary now, but he went back to the well in the ninth with some vicious uppercuts. He ate some big shots in the tenth and the championship rounds belonged to Hrgovic too. The decision was booed in the arena as Hrgovic was awarded this IBF title eliminator on all three cards, but he probably did just about enough to edge it. Based on this performance though, he is unlikely to trouble the winner of tonight’s main event.
Two-weight world champion Badou Jack was fortunate to walk away with a split decision win over Richard ‘Popeye The Sailor Man’ Rivera. The unbeaten but unknown Rivera was far busier than 38-year-old Jack, who looked every minute of his age in a lethargic display.
The early rounds saw Rivera far busier than the former conqueror of George Groves. This was a close-quarters fight, with Rivera dominating the middle rounds with some crunching uppercuts. ‘The Ripper rallied in the eighth, rocking his antagonist with a right hand and a pair of huge left hooks. Controversially considering it was his best of the night, this round bizarrely lasted for four minutes as the timekeeper failed to ring the bell.
The ninth saw Jack come forward with more confidence, closing the distance and pressuring Rivera. But ‘Popeye’ appeared to finish stronger with some solid overhand rights in the tenth.
The judges disagreed, and Jack was handed the decision. The former world champion will often get the marginal nod over the unknown quantity in a fight like this, but it’s hard to shake the feeling Rivera deserved more.
Ramla Ali secured a historic win over Crystal Garcia Nova, stopping the former world title challenger in just 65 seconds. The bout was the first women’s fight ever staged in Saudi Arabia. The impressive Ali is no stranger to making history. At Tokyo 2020 she became the first Somali boxer to compete at an Olympic games and is the first Somali female to become a professional boxer.
Pictures: Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing
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