Alberto Puello Becomes WBA Champion With Tough Decision Over Batyr Akhmedov
Looking to advance their positions in the division, super lightweights Batyr Akhmedov (9-1, 8 KO’s) and Alberto “La Avispo” Puello (20-0, 10 KO’s) went to war with one another. The two southpaws tested their might under the hot lights of the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino located in Hollywood. Akhmedov, ranked #2 (WBA) and #14 (WBC), was looking to stretch his current win streak to three after suffering his sole professional defeat, although controversial, at the hands of Mario Barrios.
Likewise, Puello entered the duel with every intention on collecting his latest scalp. Ranked #1 (WBA) and #13 (WBC), the ambitious Dominican was staging his third match outside of his native Dominican Republic homeland. His last three prizefights have been staged in the US.
COMPETITIVE WAR!
From the moment the fight started, it was evident that this fight would be a battle of wills and contrasting styles! Puello is a tall, rangy fighter with good boxing skills and solid power. His approach was to box from the outside while firing off hard body shots from the outside. This led to early success as he was able to keep Akhmedov off balance. However, things would start to shift in favor of the hard-hitting Akhmedov as his consistent body attack started to affect Puello, who would start to show fatigue and retreat to the ropes.
The back and forth action continued from rounds 7-12 as both men had to dig deep as the pace intensified. Akhmedov’s body attack really started to hurt Puello in round eight as he had the Dominican reeling towards the ropes. To the credit of Puello, he would come back landing some vicious counter left uppercuts and right hands that snapped the head of his opponent back!
After 12 hard-fought rounds, Alberto Puello would be announced as the winner by way of a split decision. The scores read: 115-113 for Akhmedov and 117-111 twice for Puello. Considering how close and competitive this fight was, a rematch isn’t out of the realm of possibility.
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By: Jerrell Fletcher
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