10.05.08 – by James Slater: Last night, in Middlesbrough, U.K, 22 year old local man Paul Truscott gritted his teeth and won the fight of his young career as he closely out-pointed Ghana’s more experienced Osumanu Akaba. Both men gave their all over the full 12 rounds, but at the end the vacant Commonwealth featherweight championship was Truscott’s. Winning via a unanimous verdict by scores of 116-112 (twice) and 115-113, the 22 year old proved a lot of people wrong..
Southpaw Akaba looked a class operator at times, especially in the opening session. Using his good right jab, the Ghanaian was the boss for the first three minutes. Truscott has some cute moves of his own, however, as he was to prove as the fight wore on. Really, the fight was almost nip and tuck right the way through. One guy would win a round, only for his opponent to capture the following three minutes. The pace was pretty frenetic all night also, and by the middle rounds the African was blowing – due to the good share of body work his opponent put out during the bout.
Truscott, who bled from the nose and was cut at the side of his left eye during the battle, landed some very sharp counter-punches at times – especially with his right hand. Akaba was the man coming forward practically all fight, but his aggression was of the clever variety. Indeed, both men showed some neat boxing skills last night. By the 7th, the 27 year old African was starting to lunge in with his shots – clearly due to his fatigue. A good right hand to the head noticeably rocked Akaba and sent him backwards in this round, much to the delight of the pro-Truscott crowd. But then the Ghanaian came back to have a good 8th round, where his work-rate won him the session. This was some close fight. It was also an engrossing one to watch.
With both boxers knowing everything was to fight for going into the last three rounds, the determination to win was admirable on both sides. The very last round in particular saw some good exchanges. Both men had given everything they had at the end of the 12th, and the agonising wait for the decision was all that remained. The unanimous decision in the 22 year old’s favour was a result no-one could really argue with, although Akaba, who had landed a number of straight lefts to the head during the contest, understandably felt he’d won.
Now a champion after only 11 pro fights, Truscott improved to 11-0(1). The closely defeated Akaba fell to 10-4(8).