By John G. Thompson: This evening on ESPN2’s Friday Night Fights series broadcast live from the Jostens Center in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, two up and coming light heavyweights, Ismayl Syllakh 15-0 (12 KO’s) and Yordanis Despaigne 8-1 (4 KO’s), put their undefeated records on the line and one fighter’s record now shows the results.
Syllakh, originally from Ukraine but now living in Simi Valley, CA outside of Los Angeles, is one of the first professional boxers Despaigne has come across with a comparable amateur background. Syllakh competed in numerous international tournaments, with a reported amateur record of 302-16. Despaigne defected to the United States in 2009 along with fellow Cuban Olympic boxers Guillermo Rigondeaux and Yudel Jhonson. An experienced amateur himself, Despaigne actually defeated current light heavyweight champion Jean Pascal in the 2004 Olympics as a middleweight; though Despaigne went on to lose to the super middleweight star Andre Dirrell.
Despaigne landed repeatedly with a crisp jab in the opening round, taking on the role of the aggressor coming at Syllakh, who would occasionally fire back with combinations. In the second the pattern of Despaigne coming forward with the jab repeated, but Syllakh started making him miss, and near the end of the round connected with a hard right to the jaw. Despaigne took an unbalanced step back and Syllakh threw a two punch combination as Despaigne went down. He got up quickly as the round ended.
In the third round, Syllakh busted Despaigne up with hard combinations, opening cuts over both eyes. Instead of going in for the kill, however, Syllakh went back to dancing away, making Despaigne miss and landing counter shots. Syllakh started getting fancy in the fourth, holding up his glove as if to announce his punch, then delivering. Despaigne came on strong in the fifth, managing to back Syllakh into the ropes where he could smother him with punches. Syllakh did not allow this to happen again as he elected to stick and move throughout the remainder of the bout. Ringside commentator Teddy Atlas actually gave advice to Despaigne’s trainer Buddy McGirt when he was interviewed during round six; telling McGirt that Despaigne needed to work behind the jab in order to get inside on Syllakh.
Despaigne displayed heart and chin as he soaked up some hard shots from Syllakh, both men taunting each other at times. By the eighth, Syllakh was content to dance away, sticking with jab, scoring points, and avoiding danger. In the end of the ninth, Syllakh caught Despaigne with a counter and then landed multiple haymakers, but Despaigne merely waved him on. Despaigne came on strong in the tenth and final round, but Syllakh had no interest in going to war at that point, coming away with a unanimous decision. Syllakh, the younger man at twenty-six to Despaigne’s thirty-one years, landed more than one hundred more punches than Despaigne throughout the bout, at a higher connect percentage. Two judges scored it 99-90 and the other 98-91 (I had it 97-92) all for Syllakh, who now joins the top ten bracket of light heavyweight contenders.
Also televised, “Emperor” Ray Narh 25-1 (21 KO’s) faced Freddie “Lil Hagler” Norwood 43-4-1 (23 KO’s) in a less than thrilling undercard. Both fighters suffered from inactivity. Narh had fought only twice since 2007, with his last fight coming almost a year ago. Narwood, who lost a featherweight championship in 2000 (a championship he had defended successfully six times over two years), did not fight again following that loss for six years (time which included a stint in prison). More recently, Narwood has fought only three times since 2008, with no fights in 2010 or thus far in 2011. Though less than a stellar performance, Narh controlled the action, the pace, and won the fight convincingly by working behind his jab. Two judges scored it 100-88, and the other 99-89, all for Narh.