By Jim Dower: Former WBA/WBO lightweight champion Nate Campbell (33-5-1, 25 KOs) defeated number#1 International Boxing Federation (IBF) lightweight contender Ali Funeka (30-2-2, 25 KOs) by a 12-round majority decision on Saturday night at the BankAtlantic Center, in Sunrise, Florida. Campbell, 36, knocked Funeka down twice in the fight – once in 2nd and then again in the 11th round to take the fight
The knockdowns ensured the when for Campbell, who struggled during most of the first half of the fight, having big problems with the jab, work rate and the reach from the tall 6’1″ Funeka.
In round 10 through 12, Campbell seemed to finally figure out how to beat Funeka, staying close and smother the South African’s long punches, preventing him from using his excellent jab and high work rate. Campbell stayed close to him in the last three rounds, winning each of them and getting the decision by a narrow margin. The final judges’ scores were 115-111, 114-112 and 113-113.
Funeka, 30, fought well in the 1st round, standing tall and using his jab and fast combinations to keep Campbell from getting his shots off. Funeka often threw triple jabs and two to three punch combinations thrown with a lot of speed. Campbell was more concerned with throwing hard punches, putting a lot of power in his head and body shots as he followed Funeka around the ring.
In the end round, Campbell stalked Funeka around the ring tagging him with hard right hands to the jaw. Near the end of the round, Campbell landed a big looping right hand to the head of Funeka, staggering him. Campbell fired off a jab and then another big right to send Funeka down. In the remaining seconds of the round, Campbell teed off with big shots, but Funeka was able to make it out of the ring by clinching.
In rounds three through five, Funeka outworked Campbell, throwing a high number of jabs and short combinations to put Campbell on the defensive. Campbell, like in the two prior rounds, was more concerned with loading up with his shots trying for a knockout. This had the effect of slowing down his work rate dramatically, keeping him from matching Funeka’s hectic pace.
Campbell should have reconsidered his strategy at some point, because Funeka showed a strong chin other than the 2nd round momentary bad stretch. Though it was still early in the fight, Campbell already was looking exhausted, as if he hadn’t trained properly for the fight. In contrast to his fight with Juan Diaz in March 2008, Campbell was throwing far less punches, yet he was looking much more fatigued than he had in that fight.
Funeka continued getting the better of Campbell in rounds six and seven, outworking him with a constant jab and giving him problems with short hooks to the head. Funeka’s jab was the biggest problem for Campbell, because he was getting hit with many of them as he came forward trying to mix it up with him.
Add to that Funeka’s continuous circling of the ring, which kept Campbell from having a stationary target to land his big power shots. It had been some time since Campbell had last fought an opponent that used a lot of movement and his legs looked not ready for this kind of chasing.
In the 8th, Funeka dominated the first two minutes of the round throwing a ton of jabs and combinations, but in the last minute Campbell began bombarding him with powerful body shots and hooks to the head, ending up taking the round based on his more telling shots.
Funeka came back in the 9th, once again getting the better of Campbell with double and triple jabs. Near the end of the round, Campbell suddenly looked as if he had figured out how to fight Funeka, staying close to him and not giving him room to throw his jabs and combinations.
In rounds 10 through 12, Campbell stayed on top of Funeka, sticking close and smothering Funeka’s offense. It was shocking to see how poorly Funeka adjusted to this tactic, because he looked helpless, and confused and let Campbell fight it out with him at close range. Campbell, in staying close, was smothering his own power, but it didn’t matter, because he had at least finally shut down Funeka’s offense.
Late in the 11th, Campbell staggered Funeka with a big right hand to the head. Campbell added another right hand, causing Funeka to grab a hold of him to try and keep from falling down. Funeka slipped to the canvas anyway. After he got up, he was battered around the ring in the remaining seconds of the round, getting staggered once more after getting hit with a big left from Campbell.
In the 12th, Campbell stayed close to Funeka, hitting him to the body and head with hard shots and preventing him from landing his own shots.
“Now I can see why he’s got such a good record,” Campbell said after the fight. “He’s a tough, durable guy. He’s strong, he can punch, and is physical. He can take a shot. Just a tough fighter. His day will come. His height and reach gave me problems. He was able to keep me at bay, using his jab. I’m going to move up to 140. I’m looking for all the champions. I worked all my life to become a champion, and my body said no more, and I lost it at the scales. I apologize to the fans and all the people that supported me. All I can do is go up and become a champion at 140.”
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