ORLANDO, Fla. – Stephanie Han wears many hats: police officer, mother to a special needs daughter, former beauty pageant contestant. At the end of 10 hard rounds in Orlando, she can add the designation of defending WBA lightweight titleholder – but it wasn't easy.
Just seconds into her first title defense, on a DAZN-streamed “MVP Fight Night,” Han walked into a right hand from opponent Paulina Angel and hit the deck. She bounced back up, but Angel would make her work hard for the rest of the night.
Angel, 7-2-2 (3 KOs), was a blur of constant frenetic movement, launching herself at Han and throwing power shots as Han sought to create a distance to throw her longer, straighter punches.
The clash of styles, and Angel’s constant forward momentum, made the contest scrappy during the early going, and in Round 4 a clash of heads opened up a cut on Han’s forehead that bled sporadically throughout the fight. By the end of that round, it was unclear how the bout would unfold. But bit by bit, round by round, Han became increasingly assertive, using her more cultured boxing skills to move her opponent around the ring and use her jab to maintain some breathing room.
Angel had only one gear and one direction, but while both modes became steadily less effective, they ensured each round was close and hard work for Han, 11-0 (3 KOs).
Over the final few rounds, Han was finally able to settle into a rhythm. Hers were the cleaner punches, landing as Angel charged in, and several times Angel dropped her hands in frustration at her inability to drag the belt holder into a brawl.
Angel launched herself at Han in the 10th and final round, but once again Han was able to keep her at bay as the seconds ticked down.
When the scores – three cards of 98-91 – were announced in Han’s favor, Angel burst into tears and sections of the crowd booed. It was the correct verdict, Han deserving the decision, but she will have easier nights in her career, for sure.
Lucas Bahdi became the mandatory challenger for the lightweight belt held by Gervonta Davis, courtesy of a unanimous decision over former 130lbs titlist Roger Gutierrez. But he should probably be grateful that Davis is seemingly tied up with Bahdi’s promoter Jake Paul, because based on this performance “Tank” would have little to worry about from the man from Niagara Falls, Ontario.
Outside of a knockdown at the end of Round 6, there was little action or entertainment – although Bahdi at least made an effort to force a fight, while Gutierrez spent too much of the contest, and particularly the first half, uninterested in engaging.
The first couple of rounds were quiet, the taller Gutierrez, 29-7-1 (22 KOs), working behind a high, tight defense as Bahdi sought to find a way through with jabs and rights behind the Venezuelan’s guard.
Gutierrez’s game plan seemed to be to try and catch Bahdi, 20-0 (15 KOs), with a long right hand as the Canadian moved backward, and just such a punch appeared to daze Bahdi at the end of the third.
Thereafter, however, Gutierrez retreated back into his shell, offering little as Bahdi outworked and outjabbed the taller man in the fourth and fifth.
In Round 6, Gutierrez began to open up, landing a succession of long right hands, but in doing so he nearly prompted his own demise. With just seconds remaining, he backed Bahdi into a corner, and both men wound up right hands. Bahdi’s landed first and Gutierrez tumbled to the canvas. Had it been a minute earlier, it might have been a conclusive blow, but Gutierrez survived.
Bahdi tested Gutierrez's condition with a more aggressive start to the seventh, but although he succeeded in landing some clean right hands, Gutierrez recovered. By Round 9, he was back to launching right hands in Bahdi’s direction. But truth be told, it was too little, too late, and both men seemed content over the final few rounds to let the contest reach the final bell.
Scores were 115-112, 116-111 and what felt like a more accurate 117-110.
Light heavyweight Ariel Perez moved to 8-0 (4 KOs) with a workmanlike victory over Chris Avila, 6-2.
Avila, an MMA veteran who has transitioned to boxing, showed the more fluid movement in the ring. But although he rolled with a lot of the incoming artillery, he threw far too little in return as Perez plugged away behind a stiff jab intermixed with overhand rights. In a contest in which not much landed cleanly, the majority of the attention-grabbing blows came from Perez, which was enough to secure him a unanimous verdict by scores of 58-56 twice and 59-55.
Kieran Mulvaney has written, broadcast and podcast about boxing for HBO, Showtime, ESPN and Reuters, among other outlets. He presently co-hosts the “Fighter Health Podcast” with Dr. Margaret Goodman. He also writes regularly for National Geographic, has written several books on the Arctic and Antarctic, including most recently Arctic Passages: Ice, Exploration, and the Battle for Power at the Top of the World, and is at his happiest hanging out with wild polar bears. His website is www.kieranmulvaney.com.
