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There were several "mid-major" heavyweight fights among the card in Ankara, Turkey on July 4th, with some interesting and predictably controversial results given the venue and infamous promotor, Ahmet Öner.
The headline fight among the heavies was Sinan Samil Sam (SportsRatings #53) vs. Paulo Vidoz (#78). Most observers felt that Vidoz won the fight, scoring with jabs while Sam, a Turk and the crowd favorite naturally, was more agressive but landed less often. Though both scored occasional big shots during the fight, neither looked particulary sharp. At the end, the promotor seemed to "confer" with the judges angrily, and there was a lengthy delay before the match was declared a draw. What exactly happened no one is quite sure, but in the end it will probably mean a rematch.
[Update: the result has been changed to a win for Sam]
The draw puts Sam's record at 30-4-1 with Vidoz now 25-4-1. In the SportsRatings Top 100, the effect of the draw will be to move the two fighters' ratings closer together; Sam will fall slightly and Vidoz rise somewhat, perhaps five positions each.
Though it was an undercard 6-round fight, the bout between #35 Henry Akinwande and #46 Ondrej Pala featured higher-ranked fighters. 42-year-old Nigerian/Brit and former WBO beltholder Akinwande came into the fight with a 50-3-1 record overall, compared to 23-year-old Czech Pala's 19-2 mark. But youth beat experience as Pala controlled the fight and won the decision.
Pala's rise as a prospect continues, while Akinwande's decline as a former contender nears completion. Pala should jump to near the top 25, while Akinwande will drop well out of the top 50. The loss is Akinwande's second in three bouts over the last two years. Before that, he had a 9-bout winning streak which started after his devastating 2002 KO at the hands of Oliver McCall.
Pala gets a win over his best known competition. When he previously upped the level of his opposition back in 2006, he lost to Rene Dettweiller and Denis Boytsov, who were both undefeated at the time. After those losses, he put together a string of eight wins against inferior fighters before taking the Akinwande bout. Now he arguably has a more impressive win than either of the two who beat him, and he's been much more active as well. He should be considered one of the better young heavyweight prospects fighting today.
Also on the card, undefeated #48 Yakup Saglam defeated Alexander Subin (5-13) on a 3rd round TKO. As Subin is unranked, Saglam's rating will not be affected by the win. The loss was Subin's 11th in a row according to boxrec.com.
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