UIC Pavilion, Chicago, Illinois– Light heavyweight contender Andrzej Fonfara (25-3, 15 KOs), in his adopted home town, beat Doudou Ngumbu (33-5, 12 KOs) via fairly uneventful ten round unanimous decision in a Showtime main event that was better suited for an off-TV undercard than a premium cable showcase.
The awkward Ngumbu, from the Republic of Congo by way of France, started quickly and connected with some shots in the first two rounds that made it appear as though a truly tough bout was ahead. However, Poland’s Fonfara adapted to the awkward style of his opponent and pretty much swept the remaining eight rounds with a basic one-two style.
Final judges tallies were on the mark at 98-92, 97-93, and 97-93.
Fonfara keeps his place as one of the “best of the rest” in the light heavyweight division as, hopefully, Bernard Hopkins, Sergey Kovalev, Adonis Stevenson, and Jean Pascal spend the next year or so determining the true ruler of the division.
Also on the card:
Defending WBO bantamweight titlist Tomoki Kameda (31-0, 19 KOs) beat Alejandro Hernandez (28-11-2, 15 KOs) via split decision in an oddly-scored bout 115-113, 115-113, 113-115. The Boxing Tribune scored the bout 118-110 in favor of Kameda.
Hernandez was a full step behind Kameda almost the entire night, but a cut over the left eye of Japan’s Kameda allowed the Mexican challenger to take a couple of rounds later in the fight.
This was Kameda’s third successful defense of the belt.
— In an ugly, foul-filled bout, Javier Fortuna (26-0-1, 19 KOs) put a decisive end to things via left hand in the fifth round to KO Abner Mares (18-3, 8 KOs).
In this bout, fans were treated to Cotto scoring a knockdown over Fortuna via a pair of rabbit punches in the second round, a pair of ugly Cotto low blows on Fortuna in the fourth, and Cotto hitting the canvas from a phantom punch thrown by Fortuna (per trainer instructions) after the bell to close the fourth round.
Luckily for fans and Fortuna, though, the controversy ended via legitimate knockout punch.
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