Stuart Hall British champion as Ian Napa quits
There were bizarre scenes in Tyne and Wear on Friday night, and we’re not talking about the locals cutting lose on the town after a hard week’s graft.
The incident took place in the boxing ring when former European champion Ian Napa quit on his stool against Stuart Hall in their clash for the vacant British bantamweight title.
Napa did not appear to be in any trouble prior to his retirement and this defeat now leaves his career up in the air. This bout was seen by many to be last-chance-saloon time for “Dappa”. The Zimbabwe-born pugilist has been talking of a world title shot for years now, this was his chance to put himself back among it after a controversial defeat to Jamie McDonnell in January. Instead it looks like it might be the last we see of the 5ft 1in fighter.
Napa’s withdrawal was even stranger considering he was ahead on all three of the judges’ cards and growing in dominance as the fight wore on. With no obvious signs of injury of fatigue it seemed very odd that he would call time on a clash that he looked set to win.
Admittedly it was a slow start by Napa and Hall certainly had the better of the opening exchanges. Hall used his obvious height and reach advantage to keep Napa at bay and landed a few scuffed efforts in a measured opening. He had clearly done his homework on the little man and didn’t buy in to his feints and weaving which left Napa frustrated and well out of range.
By the third round, perhaps feeling the fight slipping away from him, Napa upped the ante as he started to slip past Hall’s jab, working his opponent’s body and landing some stiff left hooks to the undefeated Darlington man’s ribs. However Hall landed a few decent straights himself and it was a fairly even round.
The fourth was quieter as Hall battled back from Napa’s body shots. The slick Hackney fighter was wresting control of proceeding and the fifth round saw the pace setting again increase by another notch as Dappa began to work out a way through his taller opponent, playing his ribs like a xylophone. Again though the durable Hall came right back in it and landed some respectable shots, including a particularly effective straight right.
It was a tight and entertaining affair in the next two rounds but Napa was starting to get the upper hand and was more frequently working inside and breaking Hall’s resilience. He made the seven-inch deficit play to his favour by mixing up his cracking ribs shots with a few surprise uppercuts as Hall jab became less effective in keeping him at bay. Hall wasn’t out of it though and fought back popping off the odd accurate shot, however these were Napa’s rounds.
Now fully in his stride round eight was the former European champ’s best. Napa really went to town and looked more aggressive as he landed a superb overhand right early doors. It was by far Napa’s best round and it looked like there was only going to be one winner from here on in.
So it was a massive surprise he didn’t come out for the ninth. Hall’s corner was psyching up their man but he had the body language of an uncertain fighter contemplating defeat. Napa’s corner signalled for the end though and a jubilant Hall raced across the ring in celebration, winning the British title in only his ninth professional fight in front of a hometown crowd. It’s safe to say though that he would be the first to admit that these are not the circumstances in which he would like to be crowned champion.
Napa’s commitment might be called into question in some quarters, but there’s no way you can sit there and criticise a fighter for not fighting on and Napa has proved his bravery in the past. It was a massive shock to all who were watching as there was no indication this was going to happen and Napa had had his best round in the eighth as well. However if he felt like he could not continue then there is no way the fight should go on, health and safety has to be paramount in boxing and unless you have been in that situation you can’t lay any blame at Dappa’s door, he was well in his rights to pull out.
The question is what prompted this decision? Immediate word was that the Hackney fighter felt faint. When interviewed Napa said that the venue was incredibly hot and he had trouble making the weight as it is. He did have plenty of time to make weight though and has fought at 118lbs for some time now, but perhaps at 32 years of age he’s just finding that tougher.
Realistically this could mark the end for Napa. It’s his ninth career defeat, his third in four and puts him further away from a European title and a world title shot than he ever has been before.
It’s a great shame as Napa was a boxer that promised so much early in his career, although it is also been a career wracked by misfortune and bad luck. Almost a throwback to the old-school, Napa is a skilful defensive boxer in the Floyd Mayweather mould and genuinely enjoyable to watch, so it will be a big shame if he retires without his career reaching the heights it could have.
Perhaps Prizefighter could offer the little guy a route back in, if he wants to continue. Other than that it will be a very long and difficult road back up to international standard competition.
If not Napa can exit the sport head held high having proven that when it comes to boxing big things can come from small packages.
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