Natasha Jonas Narrowly Edges Mayer; Zak Chelli Defeats Cullen
IBF welterweight champion Natasha Jonas (15-2-1, 9KO) retained the title in a war against Mikaela Mayer (19-2, 5KO).
Mayer put the champion on the backfoot with relentless pressure. She landed the straight right hand early and often, and finished every combination with body shots to control the early rounds.
It turned into a war in the middle rounds as Jonas showed that championship heart by finding a home for the counter left hands and a vicious body attack. However, Mayer refused to back down and kept landing the right hand and found a home for those uppercuts.
As the fight was coming to a close, both fighters put it all on the line. Jonas continued to land hard counter-shots and hooks on the body. Yet, Mayer was the stronger fighter as she kept applying pressure, landing uppercuts, body shots, and hard punches.
When the final bell sounded, the United Kingdom fans gave both fighters a standing ovation. One judge scored it 97-93 for Mayer, with the other two judges scoring it 96-95, and 95-94 for Jonas.
3Kings Boxing agrees with the first scorecard and believes there should be a rematch.
ZAK CHELLI SCORES THE WIN IN THE REMATCH OVER JACK CULLEN
In a domestic-level super middleweight 2020 rematch, Zak Chelli (15-2-1, 7KO) made sure this time a winner was declared by defeating Jack Cullen (22-5-1, 10KO) via unanimous decision.
Cullen did a good job early using the jab and fighting tall. He used that height and reach to maintain control of the fight at mid-range.
In the middle rounds, Chelli took over with the right hand. He even moved his head off the centerline and landed several jabs, as Cullen stopped using the height advantage.
Chelli’s footwork, jab, feints, and defense were on full display in the rematch. He proved to have the better ring IQ, dominating Cullen in the second half of the contest.
That right hand was the money punch for Chelli, which landed constantly throughout the fight. He continued to have success in the closing rounds with landing different variations of the right hand as Cullen never made the adjustment.
In the end, the judges’ score cards were 116-113, 116-112, and 115-114 in favor of Chelli. That last card is ridiculous but 3Kings Boxing agrees with the middle card.
