Full Report: Malik Bouziane Dethrones Ian Napa

Posted on | March 24, 2009 | No Comments

On Friday night at Newham Leisure Centre, in London, England, European bantamweight champion Ian Napa was dethroned by challenger Malik Bouziane on points over 12 rounds on a Frank Maloney fight card.

Frenchman Bouziane outboxed the normally slippery Napa, who was never able to find his rhythm against the challenger and uncharacteristically inactive for much of the bout. Bouziane had no problems finding the target and nullified Napa’s normally formidable bodywork with superb footwork and a good offense of his own.

The cagey Algerian born boxer switched from orthodox to southpaw and simply wasn’t there to hit for Napa, who was defeated on points, 118-110, 117-111 and 115-113, losing the European title on his first defense and dropping to 18-7 (1).

Former French titlist Bouziane pulls off a career best performance and the new European Bantamweight Champion improves to 11-1 (1).

Light middle Sam Webb, 13-1 (4), of Chislehurst won a tough points decision against Birmingham scrapper Mad Max Maxwell, 9-5 (1), on a score of 77-75 after eight torrid rounds of combat. With the victory, Webb could move onto an official British title eliminator this year.

British southern area featherweight titlist Akaash Bhatia, 14-0 (5), of Harrow continued his march to a domestic title opportunity by knocking out Slovakian southpaw Elemir Rafael, 3-28-1 (0), at 2:23 of the first frame of a non-title bout. The lightning fisted Bhatia has build impressive momentum over the last year and showing improved power, has stopped his last three opponents.

Flyweight Ashley Sexton, 5-0 (3), of Cheshunt stopped Robert Nelson, 6-2-2 (0), of Bradford at 2:14 of the sixth frame of a scheduled eight and has quickly become a threat to the reign of British and Commonwealth champion Chris Edwards.

Lightweight Henry Castle, 20-4 (11), of Salisbury was taken the six round distance by awkward, granite-jawed welterweight journeyman Kristian Laight, 6-56-5 (0), winning by a margin of 59-54. Castle is also on the short list to contend for a domestic belt, having won his last six bouts.

Heavyweight Larry Olubamiwo, 4-0 (4), of Hackney knocked out Polish import Michal Skierniewski, 3-4-1 (1), with a single crushing right hand at 1:01 of the first frame, while Cheatham based heavyweight Tom Dallas, 4-0 (2), did the same to “Big” Ben Harding, 2-2-1 (0), of Plymouth at 1:58 of the initial round.

The one-two punch of promotional stablemates Olubamiwo and Dallas represents the future of the heavyweight division in Britain.

Rugged Lithuanian light middle Tomas Grublys, 3-0 (2), stopped experienced Portsmouth southpaw Paul Dyer, 18-11 (1), at 1:06 in the fourth while lightweight Liam Shinkwin, 2-0 (0), of Bushey Heath outpointed East Ham lefty Johnny Greaves, 1-28 (1), by a score of 59-55 over the course of six round thriller.

PHOTO GALLERY:

Frank Maloney Promotions returns to action on Friday, April 17, 2009 at The Indoor Sports Centre In Leigh, England as Mark Moran challenges Matthew Marsh for the British super bantamweight title and Jason Booth challenges Lee Haskins for the British super flyweight title.

Tickets, priced at £70 for Ringside and £35 General Admission, are available by logging onto www.frankmaloney.com or by calling the Box Office at 0871 226 1508.

Sky Sports will televise the action live on SS1 at 10PM.