Junior Fa scores majority decision over American Craig Lewis Featured
11 March, 2018. Kiwi heavyweight Junior Fa remains undefeated but only after being taken the distance by American Craig Lewis yesterday 10 March.
While Fa tired down the stretch of the eight-round bout in Deadwood, South Dakota, he always appeared in control and eyebrows were raised when the first judge scored the fight 76-76.
However, the remaining two judges had it 78-74 and 79-73, both in the Aucklander's favour as he claimed a majority decision to extend his professional record to 14-0.
The result was in complete contrast to his last bout in the US, when he stopped Fred Latham in the first round.
The 28-year-old will know he has plenty of room for improvement. But Lewis, a former amateur champion, presented a much sterner test having only tasted defeat once in his previous 16 fights.
Fa set the tone early, establishing the jab in the opening two rounds while looking to land a big right hand on several occasions.
At 1.96m, Lewis is the same height as Fa and is more a boxer than a power puncher. But Fa never allowed him to find a rhythm.
The third round was a scrappy affair as Lewis continuously tied up the Kiwi. Fa responded at the start of the fourth with a crisp one-two combination but to Lewis' credit, he refused to lie down.
The American even appeared to find his second wind and landed a heavy right in the seventh round that drew blood from Fa's nose.
Neither fighter came close to securing a knockout in the final round, but Fa landed more power shots to earn the decision and continue his rise up the heavyweight rankings.
- Stuff
1 comment
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What a great boxing between the two fine boxers! From the sound of it, the fight was even although Lewis, as said, was a more a boxer than a power puncher; the latter was quality better attributed to Fa who, as observed, never allowed Lewis to find a rhythm, which is a fundamental feature that is common to all arts, as in Tongan faiva (performance), tufunga (material) and nimamea'a (fine) arts..
By the way, boxing was an ancient Tongan performance art known as faiva fuhu, which survived into present Tonga by the same name. The name fuhu speaks for itself, in that it is a performance artform that basically involves the rhythmic production of beauty through sustained harmony and beauty by means of bodily movements, notably the hands.
The hands are the artistic device used for the rhythmic production of bodily movements by means of fuhu, that is, fu and hu, "clenched fists that enters," hitting the opponent's body, especially entering through and between the opponent's hands (which are, in turn, clenched). The more the hits, that is, "tau," the more the points, that is, "kai," the more aesthetically-pleasing it is, the more beautiful it is as a fine work of performance art, that is, faiva malie.