JAFET Uutoni lost his world title eliminator against Angel Acosta on Saturday night on a tenth round technical knockout after the referee stopped the fight 1:01 into the round.
According to a press release issued by Nestor Tobias, Uutoni put up a brave performance at a packed boxing arena in Cages, Puerto Rico in front of thousands of cheering supporters.
According to Tobias, Uutoni started well, but lost his momentum in the later rounds.
“Uutoni started the fight at his usual high tempo and had Acosta against the ropes several times with hard blows. He however started losing momentum and his game plan in the later rounds, which saw the talented Puerto Rican regain his confidence and punching power. Uutoni went down in round one, which looked like a clear slip, and fought on like a true lion,” he said.
Tobias said that Acosta began wrestling throughout the fight, having Uutoni against the ropes and on the floor, while the two fighters also stood toe-to-toe, trading hard blows.
“In the end, it was Acosta’s blow that knocked out Uutoni and although Uutoni beat the count, the referee stopped the fight much to Uutoni’s disappointment,” he added.
According to Tobias the fans described this as Acosta’s toughest fight ever, and instantly declared Uutoni a true lion, because of the resilience and fighting spirit that he showed throughout the fight.
“Although we lost the fight, we were comforted that so many Puerto Rican fans waited for us outside the venue just to take a picture with Uutoni. ‘We have not seen such a warrior in a very long time’, said one fan, who said it was a tough and exciting fight and wished Uutoni well in his boxing career,” he said.
Uutoni congratulated Acosta on his victory, but said he should have stuck to his game plan.
“It was certainly a tough fight – I think Acosta won fairly and I respect him for that. I should have done better and should have stuck to the game plan, but I wanted to finish him off and that is where I went wrong. I gave it my all and did my best and wish to thank Nestor and my team for the world class opportunity”, a disappointed Uutoni said.
Tobias said that despite the defeat, it was a learning experience for Uutoni.
“For Uutoni, it’s now back to the drawing board. He must take a month off and rest and regroup – he remains a great fighter and went down fighting. We have absolutely no regrets as we do not see this loss as a failure, but as a learning experience – he lost against one of the best junior flyweight boxers in the world and that is certainly nothing to be ashamed of,” Tobias said.
