Ali Funeka Denied Title as the Scorecards Say Majority Draw; Funeka Dominated and Bloodied Guzman Throughout the Fight
On Saturday evening in Montreal, Ali Funeka succeeded in his second attempt at a world title, by handily defeating Joan Guzman to capture the IBF lightweight title. While Guzman started strong, Funeka dominated the bout and hurt Guzman on several occasions. At least that’s what most observers seemed to have thought happened until the scorecards were read.
The official scorecards read114-114, 114-114 and 116-112 for a majority draw and the vacant title remains as such. The scorecards were a stunner, as it seemed that Funeka won in the range of eight or nine rounds. However, once again the judging in Montreal comes into question.
As the fight began, Joan Guzman looked like the Joan Guzman that became the trendy top 10 pound for pound pick from a few years ago. He was quick on his feet and faster with his hands, and his punches were thrown in ferocious combinations. Then, Ali Funeka began to use his size to dictate the course of the bout.
It wasn’t long before Guzman was bleeding badly and busted open. His nose would spurt blood for the duration of the evening, his white trunks soon covered in a smeared red. Guzman was able to have moments in a few of the middle rounds, as his digging body shots continued to find their shots, however Funeka never slowed down.
He stayed working behind the jab, and began to open up with heavier shots. Guzman was buckled and almost dropped towards the end of the 8th round and despite Funeka repeatedly tagging him he was able to survive the round.
Guzman looked ready to fade into the night in the 10th, but in the 11th he came out with renewed vigor and began winging power shots into Funeka’s body and head. Undeterred, Funeka continued working consistently, and Guzman’s efforts went for naught.
Even without the official win Ali Funeka will soar up the lightweight rankings, but the question will undoubtedly remain… who wants to fight this guy? Standing at 6’1″ with strong fundamentals and great stamina, Funeka has the goods to reign over the division if he can get some more of the top names to fight name.
For Guzman, he looked reinvigorated and was willing to stand and trade, but at his size and without the power he used to wield at the lower weight classes, he was simply unable to move Funeka. But this performance should garner him another shot at a big-time fighter in the division.
The fight was a true robbery however, and once again Ali Funeka got the short end of the stick. A quick look at Joan Guzman’s face and bloody shorts and gloves will show who the winner was. The punch numbers show that Funeka threw twice as many shots. His technical skills dictated the action and discouraged his opponent. But yet, the decision didn’t go in his direction. The judging in Montreal… hopefully the latter bout in the evening does not end up with such a questionable result as well.
Check back in with ProBoxing-Fans.com as we will shortly update our lightweight rankings to reflect this bout. Additionally we’ll be updating the site with live Bute vs. Andrade results just a bit later in the evening!
