Rematches rarely surpass the original bout, but light heavyweight contenders Jan Blachowicz and Jimi Manuwa put that notion to rest in their second fight on Saturday at the O2 Arena in London, with the No. 11-ranked Blachowicz avenging his 2015 defeat to the No. 4-ranked Londoner by way of an exciting three-round unanimous decision.
Manuwa (17-4) was looking for the knockout from the start, and he didn’t care if it came with his fists or feet, both of which he threw with fight-ending intentions. Blachowicz remained calm under fire, shooting out his jab and firing off kicks of his own. With just over two minutes left, Blachowicz dropped Manuwa with a right hand, and while the Londoner survived the initial charge, Blachowicz kept the pressure on his bloodied foe, with both fighters exchanging before the horn.
Blachowicz (22-7) was clearly tired as round two began, but he was still landing hard shots on the equally winded Manuwa, who still marched after his opponent, throwing heat at him in spurts, including a flush head kick that the now bloodied Blachowicz remarkably walked through.
In the third, Blachowicz found a second gear and was able to use his jab and quick combinations to keep Manuwa from getting too close. That didn’t stop Manuwa’s stalking of the Poland native, but his punches just weren’t hitting the mark down the stretch, and a takedown by Blachowicz in the final 30 seconds wrapped up the win and allowed him to even the score with Manuwa via scores of 30-27 and 29-28 twice.
DUQUESNOY vs WARE
In bantamweight action, French prospect Tom Duquesnoy edged out a hard-fought three-round unanimous decision over California veteran Terrion Ware.
Scores were 29-28 twice and 30-27 for Duquesnoy, now 16-2 with 1 NC. Ware falls to 17-8.
It was a competitive, fast-paced opening round, with the busy Duquesnoy landing the more telling blows, but Ware getting in enough shots to get his foe’s attention before throwing in a late takedown as well.
There was more of the same in the second, Duquesnoy again appearing to edge his foe, but Ware far from out of the fight, as he surged down the stretch and gave the judges quite the task when it came to scoring the bout.
EDWARDS vs SOBOTTA
Welterweight contender Leon Edwards stopped Germany’s Peter Sobotta with a second remaining in the third round and immediately made a call for a May 27 fight in Liverpool with Darren Till to cap off his fifth consecutive victory.
Birmingham’s Edwards knocked Sobotta down with a right hand in the first 30 seconds of the fight, but Sobotta recovered quickly by locking up his foe’s arm. Edwards escaped and settled into the top position, where he stayed until rising with 90 seconds remaining, with the two battling it out on the feet to the horn.
The second belonged to Edwards as well, even though he had to still be aware of Sobotta’s submission game, but in the third, “Rocky” surged at the end with his own ground attack, with a late barrage of strikes on his bloodied foe bringing referee Rich Mitchell in to halt the fight at 4:59 of the final frame.
The No. 15-ranked Edwards ups his record to 15-3 with the win. Au, Ballingen’s Sobotta falls to 17-6-1.
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