Jamal James Loses His First Title Defense to Radzhab Butaev
In his latest in-ring tour of duty, former “regular” WBA welterweight champion Jamal “Shango” James (27-2, 12 KO’s) sought to stage his first successful title defense. The Minnesota born boxer failed in this endeavor. Instead Radzhab “No Mercy” Butaev (14-0, 11 KO’s) toppled him by way of ninth round TKO.
The crippling loss stood as James first outing in 2021 and a disappointing follow-up to his exciting all action showdown with Thomas Dulorme. James initially collected the interim WBA title in the Dulorme bout.
When he was armed with the secondary title, James was in the strongest professional position that he’d ever been in. If given his way, Shango would have loved to force a second fight with “super” WBA welterweight champion Yordenis Ugas. Five years ago, the Minnesotan took a bout with Ugas on one week’s notice only to drop a unanimous decision loss to the talented Cuban. At this point, that rematch just went up in dust.
Of course the victory comes as a joyful moment for Butaev. Like James this was the Russians only prizefight staged this year. Fortunately for him, he was able to remain undefeated and picked up the WBA title. Without question his stock will raise in the rankings. Ahead of the fight, Butaev held the #4 (WBA) position. It will be interesting to see what he does next.
HOT BEGINNING, SOGGY END
Butaev charged out and sought to initiate the action from the very beginning of the bout. Unfortunately for him, James was able to use his superior length, legs and jabs to make that one difficult task. As he smoothly orbited the ring, Shango managed to regularly pepper the Russian with punches but nothing that could deter his attack. In the final seconds of the round Butaev sank a couple piercing body blows into James’ torso.
The action increased notably in the third as James started throwing more uppercuts than the title character in “Mike Tyson’s Punch Out.” A good amount of the shots connected to the crowd’s delight. In response, Butaev remained true to his body attack. During the course of events, No Mercy was given a hard warning for hitting behind the head.
The fourth brought a severe shift in dynamics. Early in the period Shango found himself stationary and getting hammered near the corner. From that sequence until the end of the round it was clear that Butaev was having his way. In fact, while he was not overtly rocked, James was demonstrating signs of early fatigue. There was no doubt the Russian’s withering body attack was paying dividends.
TRIGGER HAPPY REF
Despite having another very dominant round, No Mercy was deducted a point for holding and hitting. As he was not warned previously, the point deduction did seem sudden and premature. At this point in the prizefight, Shango did not have much if any snap on his punches. Nothing improved for James as his tenacious adversary constantly threw non-stop punches, evenly distributed between the head and body.
With the arrival of the eighth, Shango’s face was battered and swollen and his energy was all but depleted. To his credit, he was showing heart but his form was growing increasingly sloppy and lethargic. Even though James was clearly on the down slide, referee Celestino Ruiz somewhat bizarrely jumped in to halt the action in the ninth. While the stoppage came across as premature, the former champ in no way complained about the decision.
This is a huge win for Butaev and it will be interesting to see what he does next.
By: Bakari Simpson
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