Azumah Nelson Fight Night III: Oluwaseun in controversial win
Wahab Oluwaseun survived a cut beneath his right eye to make a fourth successful defence of the national super-featherweight title by defeating Abraham Osei Bonsu by a controversial split decision at the Bukom Boxing Arena in Accra at dawn yesterday.
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Oluwaseun sustained the cut in the fourth round after an aggressive onslaught by Bonsu in the opening rounds but he managed to convince the judges by putting down his opponent twice in the fifth and seventh rounds.
Oluwaseun, thus improved his record to 13 wins, 0 losses and 0 draws.
Former national champion, Bonsu appeared on course to snatching the title from Oluwaseun in the first four rounds as his pace and punching combinations neutralised Oluwaseun's superior reach advantage, thus enabling him to dominate.
The frequency and ease with which Bonsu landed punches to Olwaseun's face opened a cut beneath the champion's right eye but the latter held his nerve and fought back in the fifth round, flooring the challenger with a right hook to the jaw.
After visiting the canvas, Bonsu fought with desperation, taking more chances and abandoning his defence in search of a knockout of his own.
This played into Oluwaseun's hands, enabling him to pick and choose his moments to engage Bonsu and he did so to devastating effect once again in the seventh round when a right hook had Bonsu on the back-foot before he tumbled onto the slippery canvas.
Referee Roger Barnor adjudged it a slip and performed the eight second count much to the disappointment of Bonsu's fans.
Despite visiting the canvas twice, Bonsu remained the aggressor but his punches lacked the strength or accuracy required to trouble Oluwaseun as the fight petered out.
And at the end of the bout, the judges awarded Oluwaseun the verdict by a 116-112, 115-114 and 114-116 split decision.
In the pick of the undercards, Emmanuel Martey claimed the national super-middleweight title with a 120-110, 120-107 and 119-109 unanimous points decision over Stephen Abbey, while Ghana’s Obodai Sai stopped Uganda’s Selemani Saidi in round two of their scheduled 10-round middleweight contest.
Isaac Dowuona edged Michael Papoe 74-76, 73-77 and 74-77 in their eight round super-featherweight clash, while Isaac Sackey earned a unanimous decision over Ezekiel Annan.
In what was the briefest bout of the night, enterprising Musah Rahman Lawson made light work of Lebanese Elias Farah, stopping him before the second minute of their international amateur middleweight contest billed for three rounds.