Boxing

SAM SOLIMAN DOMINATES NADER HAMDAN!

By Tony Nobbs

02.06 - Sam 'King' Soliman got off the canvas to win a convincing unanimous decision over Nader Hamdan in front of a packed house at the Panthers RLFC in Sydney tonight, retaining his IBF Pan Pacific Middleweight Title for the second time.

After an untidy opening two rounds the bout turned into a crowd pleasing affair with Soliman's awkward style and relentless attack proving too much for the previously unbeaten Team Fenech fighter who entered the ring rated number five by the WBC.

Soliman's supporters however, had to survive a brief scare in the fourth round. After clearly winning he third stanza where he had Hamdan cut and on the backpedal, the IBF number fifteen walked on to a smashing right hand from Nader in the opening seconds. The punch would have knocked down a wall but the tough 'King' of Egyptian heritage was up immediately with a smile and back in control by the half way mark of the round. Hamdan returned to his corner cut over both eyes.

For the remainder of the fight, Soliman smothered his challenger with a two fisted spray to both the head and body and on more than one occasion Hamdan looked in real trouble of not only suffering his first loss but being stopped by the Dave Hedgecock trained Titlist with only four knockouts to his credit in now 18-7 record with a concerned referee Johnny Wright, just back from the IBF convention in Puerto Rico, checking the now 32-1, 15 KO, Hamdan in the corner between rounds nine and ten and trainer Jeff Fenech telling his charge he had only one more round to get back in the fight.

Showing why he's called 'Lionheart', Hamdan had his best round of the last eight, coming out with the jab and widening his stance but it appeared Sam was taking the three minutes off as he reasurted his dominance in the final two sessions.

After the fight a jubilant Sam said " I just want to thank my Lord Jesus Christ. I asked him to be in my corner tonight . I take my hat off to Nader, he is a true Sydney warrior and I hope he can get a World Title one day. That knockdown was no fluke, he hit me with a clean right hand. I am so fortunate to have a great team behind me, I was prepared well for tonight".

Official scores were 118-110, 117-112, 117-113 and Eastside scored it 117-111 with round four a 10-9 for Hamdan. Soliman scaled 158.62 lb, Hamdan, 159.42 lb.

Contrary to popular belief, Sam's touch down in the fourth was not the first of his career. The Melbourne Marvel was given a count by ref Alan Simpson after being dropped, albeit briefly by a clubbing right hand from Peter Kinsella in the sixth round of his 1997 Australian Cruiserweight Title winning effort.

Soliman's manager Stuart Duncan is due to fly out to the USA this week to secure an elimination bout with Panama's IBF no.8 Tito Mendoza.

Hamdan was gracious in defeat. It was his first step up against a world class opponent and though soundly beaten, he showed enormous heart and should be congratulated.

In the main event to the Jeff Fenech promoted PPV card IBF number 10 Super Middleweight Danny Green (167.20 lb) went to 16-0, all by KO, proving too strong for Australian Lt. Heavyweight Champ Jason Delisle, (166.1 lb) 11-2-2, 5 KO. Three knockdowns in round five forcing an automatic stoppage. Team Fenech's Green retains his IBF Pan Pac Title and picks up the vacant OPBF Belt as well as avenging a loss at the 2000 Australian Amateur Titles in the Lt. Heavy division. On paper, this was one of 30 year old Green's biggest tests to date.

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