ao link
Seconds Out
YouTube
Facebook
Twitter
Snapchat
Insta
Search

Mundine wins unpopular verdict

Share on WhatsappTwitterFacebookeCard
By Paul Upham: IBF Pan Pacific super-middleweight champion Anthony “The Man” Mundine, 9-0 (7), retained his title and undefeated record with an unimpressive split points decision over Sam “King” Soliman, 12-7 (4), on Monday night at the Wollongong Entertainment Centre on the South Coast of NSW.
Judges Brian McMahon 116-114 and Don Marks 115-113 scored it for Mundine while Des Bloyd 115-113 scored the fight for Soliman, who put on a very impressive performance on his return to Australia.

Originally from Melbourne, Soliman has been campaigning in the UK for the last 18 months and is greatly improved from the boxer who won Australian titles at cruiserweight, super middleweight and middleweight.

The former kick-boxer was very confident waiting in the ring for “The Man” who was driven into the arena in a red Ferrari and entered to a lavish display of fireworks.

Soliman started quickly in the first round, showing his intentions with some dazzlingly footwork and movement. Mundine was very composed early, using his jab and landing the stronger punches.

Mundine was coming forward in the second round, but was not throwing enough punches as Soliman used an in and out strategy winning the close exchanges and landing more punches. He landed two good left hooks, which Mundine handled well and was very busy as Mundine became a little apprehensive.

Soliman was smiling in the third round as he used the entire ring to move around and work the body of Mundine who was coming forward without landing many punches. “The Man” would corner Soliman at times and land one or two heavy blows, but Soliman would dominate overall with an accumulation of punches.

The fourth and fifth rounds, although close, were shaded by Soliman as he kept up an impressive work-rate. He would move in and work the body and then be out again before Mundine could land his big right. He moved left and right and showed his experience in dealing with big punchers.

Appearing concerned in between rounds in his corner, Mundine lifted the tempo in the sixth round and was stronger and more confident in his punching. Soliman showed a good chin throughout the fight, but Mundine had his best round with a more confident approach, which had been previously lacking.

Mundine opened up the seventh round shimmying his shoulders and hips as he tried to open up with right hands, but Soliman’s movement was causing him problems as he was unable to land his jab regularly, which has been such a weapon in his earlier wins. Soliman would always manage to win the exchanges on the inside as Mundine tried to tie up his opponent who would not stop moving.

The eighth round saw Mundine really fired up as he appeared to become frustrated with the movement of Soliman, who continued to be very busy landing many light punches to the body. Mundine often appeared to be waiting for Soliman to tire, but he was in fantastic condition and powered on through the rounds.

With his fans and corner urging him on, Mundine opened up in the ninth and 10th rounds landed some better right hands as he attacked more, looking to punish the “King”.

Sitting on the ropes, Mundine was soaking up a lot of Soliman punches with good defence and looking to counter as he looked for a big bomb in the 11th round, but like a human buzzsaw Soliman kept on punching and moving, at times backing up Mundine with his volume of punches although they were not strong enough to hurt him.

Jumping up and down at the end of the round, many may have though that the fight was over, so happy was Soliman was his performance. He charged out for the final round waving his fist in the air, the crowd finally warming to him after the jeers he had received at the start of the fight.

The final round was a classic as Mundine dug down deep trying to slow Soliman down long enough to land his left jab and right hands. Both fighters threw everything into a round, which perfectly capped off an exciting fight.

The cheers and joyful nature of the crowd who had just witnessed a very entertaining fight, quickly turned to boos as the split decision win to Mundine was read out. Bottles rained down on the ring as those at ringside felt the fury of the crowd of over 6,000 people.

Avoiding the post fight interview in the ring, Mundine was surrounded by his team and quickly ushered out of the arena before someone was injured with flying debris while Soliman took the decision proudly and climbed to each corner of the ring saluting the crowd.

“I thought my performance was pretty good considering that Sam is a very cagey and unconventional fighter,” said Mundine. “I went the 12 rounds and I did what I had to do. I scored the cleaner shots and I thought I got the victory. I’m very happy with that. The shots he got me with didn’t faze me. It was a very awkward fight to fight and I had to use my skills in order to overcome that.”

“We both came to fight and come the third and fourth round once I thought he started to get tired, I started to pick up the pace,” said Soliman. “The crowd saw the fight and we put on a good show and they thought I won and I know I won. What I would like is a rematch. I’ll fight a different fight where he won’t be able to win.”

Mundine was uncommitted to a rematch, which would certainly be enjoyed by the fans who were witness to a quality 12 round battle.

“I’ll have to sit down with my management and talk about it and see if it is going to enhance my career to where I want to go and that is the world championship,” said Mundine. “I got the victory and I got the experience that I needed because he brought a lot to the table and I appreciate that, but I’m moving on to bigger and better things. He threw a lot of punches and he worked a lot, but he wasn’t scoring. He was missing me on a lot of occasions and I was getting him with the more cleaner and accurate shots. That’s where I got the victory.”

This fight was a step up for Mundine who, at times, seemed to be unprepared for the unorthodox style of Soliman. Both fighters took the bout on 10 days notice and Mundine was not used to the movement and angles that were presented to him.

To be fair, to Mundine, he landed the heavier punches in the fight and was never in trouble from Soliman’s attack. It was the sheer volume of punches landed by Soliman that was so impressive even though they were not in the power punch category, with this writer’s card reading 116-112 for Soliman.

He was busier throughout the fight and Mundine’s punch output was lacking as he tried to work out the 27-year-old Soliman. After close losses to Top 10 fighters, WBA No.1 Howard Eastman and IBO middleweight champion Raymond Joval, Soliman used his experience in this fight to outwork Mundine, who must be remembered was only in his ninth professional fight after retiring from rugby league where he played at the highest level.

On the undercard, Australian junior middleweight champion Steve Douet, 6-3 (3), defeated Peter Mitrevski Jr, 9-3-1 (6), on a split points decision over eight rounds. Judges scored the fight 77-75, 78-75 and 76-77 to Douet. At heavyweight, Mark Alexander, 2-1, won a unanimous points decision against Glen Sewell, 0-1, over eight rounds, while Team Fenech’s Mat Hayes, 2-0 (1), won over four rounds against Dave Picknell, 3-6, at featherweight.


Paul Upham
Contributing Editor
Share on WhatsappTwitterFacebookeCard
YouTube
Facebook
Twitter
Snapchat
Insta
© 2000 - 2018 Knockout Entertainment Ltd & SecondsOut.com