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The Alltel Arena in North Little Rock, Arkansas was filled with over ten thousand fans to cheer on their hometown hero, WBC/WBA/WBO champion Jermain Taylor (26-0-1, 17 KOs) as won an twelve-round decision over former junior middleweight champion Kassim Ouma (25-3, 15 KOs).
The fight was not the impressive showing that Taylor was hoping for, but he won the bout without any problems. Ouma showed his heart by pressing the action and moving forward to get on the inside in order to swarm Taylor.
Taylor would land plenty of hard shots in the fight. The knockout intentions were on Taylor's mind, yet the knockout did not come because Ouma had a better chin than most expected.
The bout was not the most exciting contest. The crowd still went home happy when they saw their hometown hero win.
According to Compubox, the company that scores the punches in the fight, Taylor landed more power punches against Ouma than he landed against any other opponent in his previous bouts.
There was a clash of heads that swelled up the left eye of Taylor, also causing a cut in the process. There were no knockdowns.
The final scores were 117-111, 115-113 and 118-110, all for Taylor.
On a side note, the Mexico based WBC elected to have the Taylor-Ouma scrap as the guinea pig for their latest experiment to include open scoring in WBC title bouts.
Ring announcer Michael Buffer told the crowd the official scores of the judges after rounds four and eight, which did not do much to change the end result.
Ouma appeared to press more for a knockout after hearing the scores. Taylor began to relax and threw fewer punches when hearing that he had already won the fight on two of the three score cards.
Taylor's options for the New Year are better than most fighters in the sport. Numerous opportunities await Taylor in 2007, should he choose to take them. [details]
The fight was not the impressive showing that Taylor was hoping for, but he won the bout without any problems. Ouma showed his heart by pressing the action and moving forward to get on the inside in order to swarm Taylor.
Taylor would land plenty of hard shots in the fight. The knockout intentions were on Taylor's mind, yet the knockout did not come because Ouma had a better chin than most expected.
The bout was not the most exciting contest. The crowd still went home happy when they saw their hometown hero win.
According to Compubox, the company that scores the punches in the fight, Taylor landed more power punches against Ouma than he landed against any other opponent in his previous bouts.
There was a clash of heads that swelled up the left eye of Taylor, also causing a cut in the process. There were no knockdowns.
The final scores were 117-111, 115-113 and 118-110, all for Taylor.
On a side note, the Mexico based WBC elected to have the Taylor-Ouma scrap as the guinea pig for their latest experiment to include open scoring in WBC title bouts.
Ring announcer Michael Buffer told the crowd the official scores of the judges after rounds four and eight, which did not do much to change the end result.
Ouma appeared to press more for a knockout after hearing the scores. Taylor began to relax and threw fewer punches when hearing that he had already won the fight on two of the three score cards.
Taylor's options for the New Year are better than most fighters in the sport. Numerous opportunities await Taylor in 2007, should he choose to take them. [details]
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