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On Saturday, Joshua Bouatsi proved to be too tricky for Dan Azeez, dropping his friend twice en route to a decision victory in London. However, the slippery canvas may have played a role.
Bouatsi and Azeez both entered Wembley’s OVO Arena with undefeated records, the latter defending the British light heavyweight title previously held by Bouatsi.
But it was the 30-year-old Bouatsi who left the arena with his record intact and improved, handing the 34-year-old Azeez his first professional loss. The judges’ scorecards after 12 rounds showed Bouatsi the winner, 117-109, 117-109, 116-110, with Azeez hitting the canvas twice in the 11th round.
After an even first frame, Bouatsi began to move forward with impressive efficiency, fighting well behind the jab and investing heavily in the body of Azeez, who was pummeling him with left hooks.
As the rounds progressed, Bouatsi began to land left hooks to Azeez’s head, and the challenger maintained an encouraging output even though he looked tired late in the bout. He was also willing to keep his head in his pocket, which suggested a lack of respect for Azeez’s power after the Briton shared many rounds of sparring.
Bouatsi (right) wins a decision over Azeez
(Getty Images)
Both fighters fought as well as each other on the wet canvas, and when Bouatsi dropped Aziz with a series of short shots in the 11th round, the champion looked more like he had slipped than knocked down. It was probably the same later in the round when Bouatsi landed a right hand, even though Azeez hit the canvas hard.
Azeez hit the canvas twice in the 11th round, but probably slipped both times.
(Getty Images)
Buatsi appeared to hold back slightly in the final round, but the final bell heralded his easy victory, the start of his second reign with the British belt and a mandatory shot at WBA champion Dmitry Bivol. I told you.
But on Saturday, it was announced that Bivol plans to put Artur Beterbiev in the box for undisputed status in Saudi Arabia on June 1st.