O’Shaquie Foster certainly isn’t afraid of leaving things late.
The 30-year-old Texan retained his WBC junior lightweight title by defeating Abraham Nova on Friday night, taking control in the latter stages and ending a closer-than-expected affair with a knockdown in the final 20 seconds. your last lap. Two ringside judges gave Foster scores of 115-112 and 116-111, while the third gave Nova a score of 114-113. (The Guardian scored 115-112 for Foster.)
In front of a crowd of thousands at the Theater at Madison Square Garden, Foster overcame a struggling opponent on his home turf, overcoming what appeared to be a right biceps injury in the fifth round to reach the conclusion in his second title defense. His debut in Cancun four months ago also required a finishing strike with the result in doubt heading into the final session.
“I don’t want to make any excuses, but when I went to throw my right hand [in the fifth]his elbow hit the middle of my bicep, so he kind of trapped my body,” Foster said later. “I was out of rhythm tonight, but it’s all good. We came home with the win, so I can’t complain.”
Switch-hitting Foster (22-2, 10 KOs) came out with a customary stance at the opening bell and struggled to find his footing in the first few rounds. The sturdy Nova doubled and tripled her swing to keep the champion at bay, stepping into the pocket to land tougher shots when opportunities arose.
Nova (23-2, 16 KOs), a Puerto Rican native of upstate New York, went off to a 7-1 rout, getting off to an inspired start even though Foster immediately looked more comfortable when he switched to southpaw to open. third. But just as it looked like he was taking control of the action, Nova hit a series of looping shots midway through the fourth quarter that sent Foster into the ring and brought the crowd to its feet.
At the same time, Nova began to show signs of fatigue in the fifth round, the champion began to increase his work rate and take command. That’s when Foster walked away from an exchange amid winces and waved his right hand in pain.
After flagging badly in the sixth round, Nova found a replacement at the start of the seventh round and battered Foster with a barrage of punches along the ropes. Foster was a fitter man and shot more accurately. But Nova survived through sheer effort, volume and punch endurance, despite a cleft lower lip that left a dark red stain on his blond beard.
Even with his right hand compromised, the fresher Foster was able to pile on the bullets by landing cleaner, harder shots in the second half of the fight. He spent 10 of them smashing his stubborn enemy to pieces with hard blows to the head and body. The 11th ended with both men trading hellfire along the ropes. Then came the 12th; Nova’s granite chin fired one shocking shot after another until Foster dropped him in the final seconds with a short left hook that removed all doubt.
“I’m a 12-round fighter and I know how to make decisions from the right,” said Foster, who landed 139 of 429 shots (32.4%) compared to 122 of 701 (17.4%) for Nova, according to Compubox’s shot. Statistics. “It was strong at first, but I found my rhythm and timing and then I started picking at it.”
Nova insisted the knockdown was a slip and should not have cost him an extra point on the final scorecards, but accepted the result. “O’Shaquie is a great fighter,” he said. “He hit me, but I slipped. I lost my balance. I was not injured.”
Foster, who grew up in the small East Texas town of Orange and lives in Houston, captured the vacant WBC title at 130 lbs a little over a year ago with a clear 12-round unanimous decision over Rey Vargas. The two previously unbeaten division champions are bidding for the title in the third weight class. But it wasn’t until his first defense in October that he made his mark on the league; He came from behind on two scorecards to stop Eduardo Hernández in the 12th round after an action-packed 11th round that was named Ring Magazine’s round of the year.
Since then, Foster has jumped from promoters Matchroom to Top Rank, reportedly signing a deal that will put him on ESPN three times a year. There is no shortage of opportunities at 130lbs after his debut with the company on Friday night. Holding the WBO’s version of the junior lightweight title, Mexican Emanuel Navarrete is widely regarded as the class of the division. Other potential unification fights include WBA title holder Lamont Roach Jr or IBF strap holder Joe Cordina.
“I’ll eventually get to 135, but I’ll try to have a few more fights at 130,” Foster said. “I’ll take the winner of Óscar Valdez and Liam Wilson [on 29 March]or can we catch Lamont Roach? I know Navarrete will move up to 135 to fight someone, but if he comes back, I’m okay with that, too.”