Great fight that stands out in two aspects: 1. Kalambay was blatantly robbed. On his home turf no less. I had him winning by 5 pts. It should be said that the ref robbed Kalule of one, possibly two KDs, but in either case it's a clear victory for Kalambay for me. 2. Kalule looked physically more imposing than he did at 154. It's rare for a fighter moving up to look stronger in the higher division, but he did. He must have drained himself badly to make 154. Quality fight all in all. Kalambay was already top notch, but lacked a bit of balance and composure when pressed. The KD the ref gave against Kalambay as well as the ones he could have given was all about balance. Sumbu wasn't hurt once in the fight. Kalule did a great job slipping and blocking Kalambay's jabs, but Kalambay instead had success with a lead right uppercut to the body and at times a short counter right to the head.
Sumbu was a little bit before his best, and Kalule was finally shedding the strain of cutting. Anyway, yes I felt Sumbu won it by a couple of points in an interesting fight between two highly skilled technicians. Kalule looked good though, not brilliant but had a spring in his step noticeably missing from the McCallum bout. You seen him spank a ***** domestic fighter inside a round? Showed how different he was at 160.
Sumbu was a beauty that night. Underrated in terms of controversy IMO as I rarely see it mentioned as the crap decision it was. Guess it wasn't too 'high profile' but still.
Last time I watched the fight I had Kalule winning by one point. How on earth Kalule got the decision in a so close fight i Italy, is above me. Woller
Yeah? For me this is not close at all. Except for rd 10, which was kind of close, all the rounds I gave Kalambay were clear. And he was clearly winning the 10th until the KD, for what it's worth. Kalule won rds 2 (could have had a KD), 4, 6 (should have had a KD) and 12 (only because of the KD) in my book. Rd 10 could have been even, but that's as far as I'm willing to go.
I will accept a one point margin win for Kalambay in this close fight. But again: how on earth did Kalule get a win in Italy of all places at that time in a close fight like this? In Spain or Italy you had to win by a knock out to get a draw at that time. Later on this spread to Germany (and I am sorry to say also GB and Denmark.) I have watched some horrible decisions here in Denmark. Woller
True enough Woller. It seems like all the backing for foreigners\naturalised fighters in Italy at the time went to Nino "the italian ali" LaRocca.No way if Kalule had been in a similar fight with him at the time he would have got the nod.Not that Kalule wouldn't have dominated Larocca, mind you Kalambay didn't start to get "the benefit of the doubt" until late in his career. btw Bokaj this fight has some good threads on it over the years.You should do a search, see if you can find some.
