Bundu beats Gavin, retains European title

By Gavin Duthie - 08/01/2014 - Comments

By Gav Duthie: In an incredibly entertaining and close run fight Frankie Gavin 19-1 (12) failed in his attempt to dethrone European welterweight champion Leonard Bundu 31-0-2 (11) by split decision. Two judges scored the fight 114-113 to Bundu with the other 115-112 to Gavin. The energy put into the contest by a 39 year old Leonard Bundu was incredible.

Bundu was on his toes all night, constantly switching between orthodox and southpaw and always put Gavin under pressure. Despite the high tempo Gavin seemed to deal very well in the first five rounds by holding the centre of the ring using the jab.

When Bundu was backing Gavin up onto the ropes he was spinning away and countering. Then in the 6th Bundu landed an accurate punch under the ribcage which had Gavin down and sprawling. The punch wasn’t huge but it was well placed. It was reminiscent of Geale against Barker. Gavin did well to get up and threw his mouth guard out to save extra time.

Despite the recovery Bundu was re-energized and put on even more pressure. Gavin boxed well in the last 6 rounds but Bundu was getting him up against the ropes and throwing strong combinations with Frankie throwing little back. It was back and forth and could have went either way. Gavin stormed out of the ring on hearing the decision. In the post fight interview Bundu said he would give Gavin a rematch if there was enough money in it for him. 

Earlier on in the evening Lucas Browne improved to 21-0 (18) with a Unanimous Decision over Andriy Rudenko 24-1 (16). It was a far from an inspiring performance with Rudenko often dominating with the jab. Browne landed the bigger shots however and is now chasing a fight with Tyson Fury. 



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