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(continuation)
Preliminary 1
Fighting the Australian Troy Waters, South Africa's Giovanni Pretorious won what must surely be the most hard-earned unanimous decision verdict in the brief history of either the HBF or IBL. On paper this bout didn't look like being anything special as neither man had stood out at their respective selection trials. But it turned out to be the fight of the night, a fiercely competitive contest that had the audience on their feet throughout.
After a fast-paced back and forth opening round Waters was in command of the 2nd until Pretorious caught him with a jolting uppercut midway through. The shot rattled the Aussie and allowed Pretorious to finish the round brilliantly, landing a damaging combination and a flush left hook to sway the judge's favour. Once again Waters dominated the early stages of round three, a hard jab and a snapping uppercut putting the South African on the back foot. But then, entirely against the run of play Waters was floored by a three-punch combo, a flush right hook staggering him and a follow-up left-right sending him to the canvas. Waters was up at seven and like in the 2nd, Pretorious controlled the rest of the round, the Australian struggling to both clear his head and stay out of trouble.
Incredibly, round four followed the same pattern as the previous two but this time Waters really had Pretorious in trouble. The 20 year-old tagged the South African with a succession of scoring shots before seemingly putting an exclamation point on his work with a crushing right cross. Pretorious was breathing heavy and looking tired but after backing Waters off with a sharp uppercut he then dropped him with an even more damaging uppercut just eight seconds before the bell. Waters made it back to his feet as the round ended, shaking his head as he returned to his corner.
Despite all his hard work, round five would be the first one awarded in Waters' favour on any of the scorecards, two judges giving it to him after a spirited, exciting three minutes from both men. It would only be the final stanza when the pace would finally slow, neither man able to produce a final furious flurry. The crowd gave them a standing ovation when it was over, Waters and Pretorious embracing and exchanging compliments.
The verdict did the Australian no justice at all, Pretorious winning by scores of 59-55, 60-54 and 59-54. A look at the cards showed that even in rounds three and (especially) round four, where Waters had dominated before being knocked down, none of the judges had taken his work into account, all three scoring both rounds 10-8. Waters had actually outlanded Pretorious 42-17 in the 4th.
Punch totals
Giovanni Pretorious: 124/374 (33.2%)
Troy Waters: 153/327 (46.8%)
As intimated earlier, neither of these men have warranted a mention as far as World Championship berths are concerned but if they can produce the type of effort they came up with tonight in future contests they'll definitely cause some headaches.
Preliminary 2
Having been heavily involved in promoting the IBL and boxing in general during the lead up to these regional qualifiers, Nigerian bronze medallist Dick Tiger made a victorious start to his pro career with a unanimous decision win against South Africa's Charlie Weir. The final scorecards all showed a 58-53 verdict, a victory margin that did not reflect the tough time that Tiger had in the opening rounds.
Round one was mostly a cautious affair, the combatants only coming out of their shells as it reached its conclusion. Tiger was employing a weary disposition, mindful of Weir's reported KO power. In the 2nd he experienced it first hand as, after a tight first 2:24 a wild overhand right caught Tiger flush on the jaw and sent him to the canvas! He made it to one knee and for a moment it looked like he might not beat the count. But he was on his feet at nine and although he survived the round the Nigerian was clearly perturbed.
Tiger would later confirm that it was a combination of embarrassment and fear that fuelled him through the rest of the bout as he would go on to dominate proceedings, steadily wearing Weir down during the 3rd, 4th and 5th before sending him to the canvas twice in the final stanza. Having landed a combined 46 punches in rounds one and two, Tiger would connect with 160 over the course of the final four, including 45 in a dazzling 3rd and 51 in a punishing 5th. When it was all said and done Tiger had set a new regional qualifiers record for punches landed in a fight with 206 (out of 494, for an accuracy rate of 41.7%). Weir landed just 76 of 202 (37.6%), 45 of those connecting in the first two rounds.
"It's a big relief," a smiling Tiger said. "Especially after that second round. That was a scary moment but I think it really did me a favour. It was like I was shocked back into action and I didn't let him into the fight after that."
The bronze medallist is one of the favourites to finish on top of the Asia/Oceania/Africa region standings and based on tonight's effort it's not hard to see why.
(to be continued)
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