NOTTINGHAM, England – Bilal Fawaz may not have a British passport, but he now has a British title.
The Nigerian, who has lived in the UK since he was a child, won the junior middleweight Lonsdale Belt with a hard-fought victory over Ishmael Davis at Nottingham’s Motorpoint Arena. Fawaz had implored the British government to finally give him a passport heading into the contest, asking why he can fight for a British title but not be legally declared a citizen. Well, Fawaz did his cause no harm with his ballsy showing. He seemed out of the contest at the midway point, but rallied to edge the fight by scores of 114-114, 115-113 and 115-114 to take a majority decision.
The opener was a cagey affair, but the then-champion Davis found a footing in the second. Fawaz, now 11-1-1 (3 KOs), was awkward with his hands high, but Davis allowed his foe to creep in before snapping his southpaw jab into his face. Davis looked sharp, and was slipping and sliding Fawaz’s slow right hands. Fawaz, 37, just couldn’t land, and on the occasion he did, would kiss his glove in celebration. The rounds ticked on and Fawaz was getting frustrated, Davis was evading everything that came at him, and in the fourth pinned his foe against the ropes with a flurry.
It seemed as though if Davis, 30, kept things up Fawaz would crumble from the amount of clean leather landed, but Fawaz never lost faith. He continued to creep forwards with his hands high, allowing Davis to retreat. But Fawaz started getting closer, and Davis was starting to tire. Fawaz even asked his foe: “Why are you running?" as Davis slipped away from another flurry in the seventh. Davis wasn’t running, but his quick feet that were evading him from harm were starting to slow, and Fawaz landed clean in the ninth.
It was a stiff one-two through Davis’ guard that started Davis downfall, and Fawaz made sure Davis knew it. “I’m coming,” he said as his foe backed away to the corner. The 10th was another dominant round from Fawaz who thumped away at Davis as he attempted to slip away. Davis’ movement just wasn’t there anymore and he was taking more leather as the rounds ticked by. By the 11th Davis was exhausted, and gasped for air as he sat on his stool awaiting the start of the session. Davis did well to avoid anything heavy from Fawaz who was spurred on by Davis’ fatigue, but Davis just couldn’t muster up the energy to throw back.
The contest was in the balance as the 12th and final round approached. Davis had looked a class above in the first half, but Fawaz’s persistence had closed the gap. Davis just didn't have anything left, and again had no desire to stand and trade with Fawaz, choosing to evade anything heavy. The bell sounded and both men embraced. It had been a fiery build up, but there was nothing but respect as the pair awaited the judges’ verdict. Davis, now 15-4 (6 KOs), took the official decision with grace as his British and Commonwealth titles were handed over to Fawaz. The newly crowned British champion now awaits another opportunity to change his family's life.
