The hope of Nigeria’s current super featherweight boxing champion, Yaqub Kareem to claim the WBF International super bantamweight belt last weekend in Benin Republic was dashed by the title holder, Vodounhessi Ghislain known as Kamuzu John.
Yaqub, a former Commonwealth super flyweight champion in the early hours of Saturday at the Cotonou Sports Hall, was stopped by the home boy in round three of their scheduled 10-round defence title bout on the stable of the Super Entertainment Promotions.
The Nigerian boxer exhibited uncommon determination and resilience in his bid to dethrone the Beninoise who has only one defeat in 20 fights, as he endured punishment right from the sound of bell.
It was the sixth defeat of the Lagos State-born boxer who boasts of 14 wins including eight KOs and one draw.
Home fans almost moved the sports hall down in jubilation as the main bout, which started at 1:07am, ended at 1:19am.
Speaking with Tribunesport, Yaqub who made his professional debut in 2005 blamed inadequate preparation for his defeat.
“Actually, this fight was scheduled for last November but it was called off. The promoter later informed us of the new date and due to domestic challenges, my preparation was not as solid as that of last November. I only had a few days to train and this affected my performance.
“I did my best but I also know that I didn’t fight with my best form. I hope to make up for this defeat in the near future, I lost to a better opponent,” Yaqub said.
Meanwhile, an elated Kamuzu John said his opponent gave him a fight.
“Yaqub is an experienced boxer and that was why I didn’t give him any breathing space. He has won his fight in Ghana before. In fact, after the first round, I discovered that if I allowed him to recover, it will be difficult for me to win and thank God everything worked in my favour. Yaqub is a good boxer, nobody has ever stopped him in round three before,” said the Beninoise boxer who moved his record to 20 wins (17KOs) with only a loss to an American boxer.
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