By Erik Schmidt: Unbeaten NABF light middleweight champion Yuri Foreman (25-0, 8 KOs) successfully defended his title on Thursday night with a lopsided 10-round unanimous decision over contender Saul Roman at the Aviator Sports Arena , in Brooklyn, New York. The fight was never remotely close as Foreman easily was in control over every round of the fight. The final judges’ scores were 97-93, 98-92, and 98-92. The only round I could possibly see giving to Roman, 27, was the 7th in which he matched Foreman for punches landed. However, Roman’s shots were considerably weaker and he was outfoxed in the round, hence I couldn’t even give him that round.
Foreman dominated the first and second rounds, using his lateral movement, fast hands and superior boxing skills to confuse the much slower Roman. Foreman could do pretty much whatever he wanted to do without worry of being hit in return by Roman, who was always a step slow in his attempts to land. In the 2nd and third rounds, Roman was cut over both his left and right eyes, the left one being a particularly nasty cut that would give him problems for the remainder of the bout.
Roman rarely attempted to throw any shots in the early going, instead mostly following Foreman around without pulling the trigger. He obviously wanted to throw punches but his style was more accustomed to fighters that stand directly in front of him trading shots. Foreman, however, was the complete opposite of that, in that he hates to get hit and moves around continuously to avoid that ever happening with regularity. His style, though effective against B-class fighters, hasn’t won Foreman a whole of fans, some of which consider him a runner. Whatever the case, it’s been effective for Foreman against the 2nd tier opposition that he’s been fighting against recently.
In the 5th round, Roman finally began pressing the fight to Foreman, attempting to cut off the ring in the early going. It was only partially effective, though, as Foreman stepped up the speed of his side to side movement and thus left Roman in the dust. Once Roman stopped trailing him, Foreman began to turn back and land flurries, then escaping to the outside in a hit and run type move.
Roman continued taking the fight to Foreman in round six and seven, occasionally landing a handful of punches but more often than not, taking counter shots from him. Roman landed a perfectly thrown right hand rabbit punch in the 7th, causing Foreman to complain to both him and the referee. Roman seemed to apologize and it was quickly forgotten.
After the 7th round, which was fairly close, Foreman pulled away from Roman as he stepped up his jabs and flurries and began to use more ring movement to prevent Roman from catching up to him. It was badly one-sided in rounds eight to ten, as Roman looked badly outclassed by the quicker, more elusive Foreman. None of the last three rounds were close.
Overall, it was a good victory for Foreman, 27, originally from Belarus and now living in Brooklyn, New York. Ranked # 4 in the WBA, Foreman is only a fight or two away from a potential title shot against WBA champion Joachim Alcine. Foreman would perhaps have the best chance at beating him compared to the other champions – Vernon Forrest, Sergeii Dzinziruk and Verno Phillips – who would likely have too much fire power for Foreman.