Kautondokwa in controversial defeat

WALTER Kautondokwa lost his WBO international middleweight title fight against Kanat Islam of Kazakhstan by unanimous decision in Almaty, Kazakhstan on Saturday night.

Two of the judges scored it 97-92 to Islam and a third 99-92 to Islam in a rather controversial result.

According to boxingscene reporter Alexey Sukachev, Kautondokwa shaded the fight 95-94 on his scorecard, while Islam hardly looked convincing.

“At 35, time is ticking rapidly for Islam but as revealed by tonight’s fight against Kautodonkwa his world title shot can be a long shot. The proof of that in a slightly controversial decision win against the former world title challenger was a stark reminder of that,” he reported.

Islam, a stockier of the two, started fast, using his awkward technique and solid shots to keep Kautondokwa at bay. The Namibian struggled to find both his rhythm and distance, being hit over in the first couple of rounds.

From round three, however, he had adjusted partially to the unusual style of Islam and began to fight back, and that’s when the ethnic Kazakhstani possibly realised the difference in punching power between Kautodonkwa and his previous opponents.

Islam chose to cope with it with flashy moves and even occasional running when needed. Kautodonkwa hardly landed anything of note during rounds three and four, but Islam showed some early signs of fatigue nevertheless.

Kautodonkwa began the fifth round pretty well, but it turned to be Islam’s best round by far, as he dropped the Namibian with an overhand left hook to the chin. Clearly wobbled, Kautondokwa did well to survive and even fought back. Meanwhile, Islam punched himself out to a degree and looked gassed by the end of those three minutes.

The fight then turned into a war of attrition, which got worse for Islam as the rounds went by, while Kautondokwa caught his second wind.

From round seven it looked like Islam had almost nothing left in terms of energy and stamina. He wasn’t rocked by any punches of the Namibian kayo artist, showing a great chin, but he threw very little in return, relying more on his lateral movement and occasional jumps in with powerful left hooks which lacked precision. Kautodonkwa, sensing he needed something big to overturn the coming verdict, was a clear stalker but he lacked fitness and speed to deal with Islam’s awkwardness.

Both combatants rumbled occasionally with neither getting an edge (Islam landed less but with greater precision), but it was the Namibian, who was coming strong after a mid-point.

His effort however wasn’t supported by the judges who awarded it by unanimous decision to Islam.

Islam is now still undefeated after 27 fights, while Kautondokwa drops down to two defeats and 18 wins.

However, prospects of Islam challenging reigning champion Demetrius Andrade and pushing him to the limit by doing so, remains unclear. What is clear is that Kanat Islam and his team have some solid homework to do. – boxingscene.com

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