Ohara Davies emerged unscathed from a ten-round super-lightweight contest with seasoned former champion Miguel Vazquez, winning on points in a tense and ugly affair at York Hall.
The Londoner was the beneficiary of an incredibly charitable scorecard of 97-94, courtesy of referee Ian-John Lewis, and by his own admission, was somewhat fortunate to be declared the victor.
Indeed, Davies was seen shaking his head in disbelief after the verdict was delivered and sportingly raising the arm of his Mexican opponent to the crowd, who were assembled in their hundreds at the famous venue in Bethnal Green.
Davies enjoyed intermittent success with his left jab in the early stages, but beyond that failed to land anything meaningful on his slippery counterpart, who reigned as the IBF lightweight champion for several years and was incidentally inflicted with the first stoppage defeat of his career in 2017, by Davies’ erstwhile domestic rival Josh Taylor.
‘Two Tanks’, who is renowned for the destructive force he carries in his fists – something which has produced many highlight reel stoppages throughout his career – was unable to make the statement he desired and attempted to land one of his trademark right hands on several occasions to no avail.
However, his inability to bounce back in style – after being outpointed by Jack Catterall in October – was the least of his worries at this point as the stubborn Vazquez continued to frustrate Davies with his movement and spoiling.
Moreover, in the later rounds Davies seemed uncomfortable as Vazquez adopted a more assertive approach, coming forward and looking like the busier and more accurate fighter.
It appeared to many if not most observers that Davies’ effort was not sufficient to claw back some of the later rounds, and that the wily veteran Vazquez had in fact successfully outfoxed the home favourite, but ultimately Davies was the one who came away with the victory, albeit with an underwhelming performance that will surely raise more questions than answers.
Article by: Navi Singh
Follow Navi on Twitter at: @DarkMan________