Karim Mayfield defends title successfully against undefeated Raymond Serrano – Boxing news
Karim Mayfield, the current WBO NABO light welterweight champion, successfully defended his newly acquired title in his very first title defence bout by knocking out Raymond Serrano, in the fifth round of the 10-round bout held on Friday May 18, 2012.
The duo headlined ESPN2’s weekly boxing show ‘Friday Night Fights’ and mesmerised the crowd by their impressive pugilism. The event was promoted by the well known Joe DeGuardia of Star Boxing and the night was co-headlined by the eight-round non-title clash
between Nick Brinson and Jason Escalera.
The bout was of significant importance for both pugilists as the duo was on an undefeated streak and Raymond was entering in his first ever title bout. The odds were somewhat in favour of Karim as he was coming from an impressive unanimous decision win over
experienced Patrick Lopez.
It was this bout in which he grabbed the vacant WBO NABO light welterweight title and was now defending it against a man of equal talent and resume. Karim, widely known as the ‘Hard Hitta’, was entering in his career’s 17th bout.
The 31-year-old San Francisco proud has never lost even a single bout and has grabbed nine of his 15 wins by knockout. He has collected just one draw decision against Jorge Alberto Padilla and since then is on a continuous 13-bout win streak.
His Friday night opponent, Raymond, 22, was in his career’s 19th bout and boasted 18 wins. The young Philadelphia lad has nailed eight of his opponents by knockout and was coming from a convincing unanimous decision win over Kenny Abril.
Karim collected the odds in his favour only because he was the title holder and was coming from a somewhat impossible win over Patrick. Both men put forth an impressive showdown and challenged each other with their jabs after regular intervals.
The pace was set by the young Raymond who used his agility and footwork in an optimal manner. During the second round, Karim started to predict Raymond’s move and countered his attacks emphatically.
It was the third round when Raymond got stunned by Karim’s huge right hand that connected well and flattened the young Philly lad on the ring floor. The damage was not much and Raymond, also known as the ‘Tito’ swiftly stood back up on his feet.
The fourth round was dominated by Raymond who capitalised Karim’s sluggishness but the whole scenario changed when Mayfield connected another raw powered right hook that almost knocked Raymond out.
After the passage of just 45 seconds of the fifth round, the referee halted the bout since Karim leashed a huge wave of jabs on the almost blanked out Raymond. With this emphatic win Karim has collected his 16th win and 10th via KO whereas the young Raymond
has for the very first time in his careers experienced the sour and harsh taste of defeat.
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