By Jim Dower: No.1 ranked WBC light welterweight contender Ajose Olusegun (30-0, 14 KO’s battled hard to defeat a determined Ali Chebah (35-2, 28 KO’s) by a 12 round unanimous decision on Friday night on Showtime at the Chumash Casino, Santa Ynez, California. The judges’ scores were 120-106, 119-107, and 119-107, all for the 31-year-old Olusegun.
Things went Olusegun’s way in the early rounds, as he knocked Chebah down twice in the 3rd round with powerful head shots. However, the fight seemed to change by the 8th, as Olusegun began to run out of gas and spent more and more time moving, clinching and throwing one punch at a time instead of the combinations and flurries that he was throwing in the earlier rounds.
Olusegun still appeared to be controlling most of the rounds in the 2nd half of the fight but it wasn’t all that impressive to see him running and showboating while looking exhausted. Olusegun started showing some fatigue problems starting in the 7th, as he played like he was hurt from a couple of shots. But it looked more like Olusegun was just looking for an excuse to put his hands down and rest because he really looked bothered from the pressure that Chebah was putting on him.
With this win, Olusegun now becomes the mandatory challenger for the WBC champion Erik Morales. However, don’t hold your breath waiting for Morales to take this fight because it’s not a big money fight for him. I’d be surprised if Morales faces Olusegun in the next two years because there are a number of easier targets that Morales can be matched up with to help him milk his WBC title for as long as possible. Look for Olusegun to be offered step aside fees over and over again while Morales is free to fight whoever he wants.
In other action on the card:
Darley Perez RTD 6 Oscar Meza
Jesus Antonio Hernandez UD 6 Rodrigo Aranda
Rufino Serrano UD 6 Jaime Villa
Joshua Landers UD 4 Ethan Cox
Roy Tapia KO 2 Edgar Flores
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