Chapter 426: The Fourth Match
At the first moment of the match, Barella also raised his right hand to congratulate him on his victory, and Barrera's coaching team also poured into the stadium with joy.
Although Barrera didn't win this bout pretty, he eventually achieved the goal he set out at the beginning and knocked British fighter Karzag out of the ring, at least in this special boxing arena in the Middle East, Barrera did not make mistakes, and the result of the fight did not lift the fans who liked him and did not disappoint them.
There were also many fans who stood up and applauded Barrera.
Wang Hao watched Barrera's fight in his lounge while doing pre-match preparations, and Barrera's fight ended early in the form of a knockout, which meant that Wang Hao and Costa Zu had a bit earlier.
Wang Hao has also adjusted the pre-match preparation activities under the guidance of Sanchez and Paul as the tournament progresses, and is basically ready to take the stage at any time after the start of the fourth game.
After Barrera's match, the young Al Jazeera host also took the stage to interview Barrera.
"Hello! Mr. Barrera! The young Al Jazeera presenter said, "First of all, congratulations on your victory today, what do you want to say?" ”
Barrera wore the WBC super featherweight champion belt on his right shoulder, wiped the sweat from his chin, and said: "Today's fight, my original plan was to knock out the British fighter Karzag to win, but the British fighter Karzag is really tenacious, so that the knockdown will appear later than we expected, me and my coaching team were expected to finish the fight in six rounds, no matter what, it's good to win." ”
Barella also praised the Middle East fans, saying, "This is my first time in the Middle East, and I feel the enthusiasm of the fans just like the weather, and I love it. Actually, tonight's opportunity to compete was not mine, but to another Mexican warrior, Morales, but due to some unexpected things, I received a notice three weeks before the fight to replace Morales to play a WBC title defense, the preparation for the match was a bit abrupt, but I think my opponent British boxer Karzag and I did our job well, I am very satisfied, thank you! “
The Al Jazeera host nodded and continued: "The second question, tonight's much-watched main event, the unification of the ultra-lightweight champion between Wang Hao and Costa Zu, is a matter of different opinions, and even caused a multimillion-dollar bet match between the Saudi crown prince and the prince of the United Arab Emirates, and the betting sales around this match have also reached a staggering number, but the ratio of wins and losses between the two is very close. So I would like to ask, what do you think of this game, and what are your predictions for the battle of the century that will start in less than an hour? “
Hearing this question, Barrera also smiled: "First of all, congratulations to the two fighters, they have the opportunity to win a bounty of hundreds of millions of dollars, this is the first time in professional boxing, I think all boxers are very envious of them." As for which of the two fighters will win this fight, it's really a tough question to answer, and even I can't tell which fighter has the better chance of winning because they're both really strong, but based on the style of play of both fighters, I think it's going to be a tough fight, maybe one fighter will go down in the fight, but I think it's more likely that the two of them will fight for the full twelve rounds. Because both men have never been knocked down, their jaws are hard, and their defensive skills are among the best in the ultra-lightweight division, if one fighter is adamant and defensive, the other fighter will have a hard time finding a way to knock him out of the ring. “
"Okay! You can hear that while you didn't say which fighter will win tonight's main event, Wang Hao or Kosta Zu, your analysis is professional enough. The Al Jazeera host continued, "One last question, I would like to ask, the Mexican warrior Morales, who is the same name as you, has been promoted in a row, and will be promoted to super lightweight in the next match, and will also challenge the winner of Wang Hao and Costa Zu, although Morales is a king in the pan featherweight division, but upgrading to super lightweight should be very different from before, do you think if Morales challenges the winner of Wang Hao and Costa Zu, there is a good chance?" ”
Hearing the question about Morales, Barrera's expression also became solemn, and said: "Although featherweight is a suitable level for Morales, no one knows if ultra-lightweight is not a suitable level for Morales, after all, Morales always looks so thin, maybe the extra muscles brought by upgrading to ultra-lightweight can make him stronger and sharper, but in any case, I think Morales will be a boxing champion when he is upgraded to ultra-lightweight, but whether he can defeat Wang Hao and Costa Zu, It also depends on Morales' performance after entering the super lightweight division. ”
Fans and boxers at the scene listened attentively to Barrera's answer, Morales' upgrade has received a lot of attention, and fans and some boxing professionals are also very interested in whether Morales, the former undefeated featherweight hegemon, can continue to be the hegemon in the face of Wang Hao and Costa Zu after being upgraded to ultra-lightweight.
Barrera's answer, they all heard it, and they also understood the meaning, that is, even if Morales is upgraded to super lightweight two levels in a row, he will still be a boxer at the king level, but it is difficult to say whether he can become the overlord of the super lightweight division.
"Thank you!" The Al Jazeera host concluded his interview with Barrera.
Three of the five bouts of King of the Desert Boxing Night are close to the final main event, the much-anticipated ultra-lightweight unification fight between Wang Hao and Costa Zu.
Before that, there's a welterweight boxing bout, which is also a title bout, and the current IBF welterweight world champion Bale takes on the challenger, Macarenali from the United Kingdom.
Wang Hao had already finished his preparations in the lounge, quietly waiting for the penultimate game to start, and was ready to play at any time.
In Wang Hao's understanding, the welterweight division is two more awkward divisions along with the light heavyweight, and there are many excellent fighters in these two divisions, but it is difficult for them to gain fame and fortune in highly commercialized professional boxing.
The reason for this is that this division does not have the heavyweight size, power, and furious knockouts, nor the speed and dazzling punches of the pan-middleweight and pan-featherweight divisions, and it belongs to a class that fans don't pay much attention to.
In the two lives that Wang Hao has experienced, there is only one Roy Jones Jr. who has achieved great success in these two divisions, although Holyfield has also succeeded, but Holyfield's success has been obtained after being promoted to the heavyweight division, and in the welterweight division, although Holyfield is the hegemon, the market value and fame are not high.
Even Tafel, who later knocked out Roy Jones Jr., and Kavalev, the famous Russian light heavyweight champion in Wang Hao's last generation, have become famous, but their commercial value has not been high.
This has also led to many excellent light heavyweight and welterweight boxers who have been upgraded to heavyweight fights, Holyfield is an example, and the most successful, Tafel was also upgraded to heavyweight later, but far less successful than Holyfield, and Wang Hao's famous Ukrainian welterweight boxer Uksi was also upgraded to heavyweight fights.
In Wang Hao's thinking, the two fighters in the fourth game have entered the competition one after another under the introduction of the host.
Both fighters are black athletes, with defending champion Bale being a little older, over 30, and his opponent, British boxer Macarenali, also a black fighter who is young and strong, at 25 years old, and has significantly better muscle abundance than Bale.
The game entered the penultimate match, and the emotions of the audience at the scene have also entered a white-hot state, many spectators have already stood up to watch the boxing match, and some viewers can't help but sing.
It's not that the fighters in the penultimate fight and the fight itself are attracting attention, but that the fight between Wang Hao and Costa Zu is getting closer and closer, and the audience's sense of anticipation has exploded and they can't hold back.
The bout between American IBF welterweight champion Bale and British fighter Macarenali soon began in a scheduled twelve-round bout.
Once the first round began, the two fighters first tested each other before challenger Britain's Macarenali stepped up his strike.
But the reigning boxing champion American Bale played with great poise and moved unhurriedly.
Bale doesn't move as flexibly as British fighter Macarenali, but he has been fighting for more than 30 fights and has a lot of experience, and for British boxer Macarenali's attack, Bale either controls the distance so that his opponent can't reach it, or relies on punches and effective slapping to block British boxer Macarenali's attack.
The first round was over, and this round Britain's Macarenali was more aggressive, but not much, and either of them could win the first round.
At the beginning of the second round, British boxer Macarenali continued his previous style of play and threw more punches, while the current champion Bale seemed unwilling to spend too much energy at the beginning of the bout, so he spent most of his time defending and trying to slow down the rhythm of British boxer Macarenali.
In the second round, the more aggressive British fighter Macarenali scored more, and it should have been the British fighter Macarenali who won the second round.
In the third to sixth rounds, most of the time as the first two rounds, Britain's Macarenali took the initiative, while American Bale only pushed hard in the fifth round and barely won a round.
In the first six rounds, Britain's Macarenali won at least four rounds, while reigning champion American Bell won two rounds at most.
The bout entered the second half of the game, and in the seventh round, Britain's boxer Macarenali seemed to have reached the limit of his fitness because he threw too many punches in the first six rounds, and his punches dropped significantly in the seventh round, while American boxer Bale began to gradually exert his strength in this round, and he hit more attacks than before.
In the seventh round, it seemed that the current IBF champion Bale had the upper hand.
After the start of the eighth round, Britain's Macarenali seemed to have a more serious fitness bottleneck, while American fighter Bale, who had been recuperating, felt like he had found an opportunity and began to attack more aggressively, and hit Britain's Macarenali with heavy punches frequently.
Hitting his opponent with multiple punches made Bale feel like his chance to end the bout, and his pace and pace suddenly picked up, and he landed more heavy punches that seemed to be over the course of the fight.
British fighter Macarenali defended as hard as he could, but he was severely exhausted and was knocked down by a right uppercut from Bale with a minute left in the eighth round.
However, Britain's Macarenali stood up when the referee counted to "seven" in the ring, threw himself back into the fight, and persevered in the aftermath of Bale's subsequent bombardment, surviving the eighth round with difficulty.
At the beginning of the ninth round, Britain's Macarenali seemed to be starting to regain his fitness, moving faster and throwing more punches, and although Bale was also aggressive in this round, he was unable to knock out Britain's Macarenali again, and the two men were evenly matched in the ninth round.
From the tenth round onwards, British boxer Macarenali regained the feeling of the first six rounds, threw more punches, attacked aggressively, and began to take the lead in points, while American fighter Bale seemed to have consumed too much physical strength in the seventh to ninth rounds, and did not lift his spirit in the next three rounds, playing more passively, even if he played another wave of powerful attacks before the end of the match, as if he wanted to fight for it, but it had no effect.
Wang Hao watched the game in the lounge, Wang Hao felt that the British boxer Macarenali should have won the tenth to twelfth rounds, Wang Hao originally thought that this game would not be full of twelve rounds, because after all, it was a sub-heavyweight game, the weight class was large, and the knockdown rate was also high, but he didn't expect the last two boxers to play the whole court, Wang Hao knew that this was naturally because the strength of the two fighters was not good enough, and it could only be said to be an average level in the sub-heavyweight, so although there were a lot of heavy punches that hit the opponent, they were not capable of destroying the opponent.
Judging from the points, Wang Hao felt that British boxer Macarenali should have won the match.
At the end of the penultimate match, the host of the scene began to read out the results of the scoring judges, three scoring judges off the court, one verdict 116-112, British boxer Macarenali won, two judges 115-113, also British boxer Macarenali won, British boxer Macarenali won the match by unanimous point decision, and won the IBF welterweight title.
At the end of the penultimate bout, after the ring was cleared, the lights almost dimmed and the scene was quiet, but the mood of the audience was at its best, and it was a wonderful state where the long-awaited good things immediately became a reality.
In the midst of all the attention, the young host of Al Jazeera once again appeared in the ring, his mood was also a little excited, his voice was a little trembling, and said: "Ladies! Gentlemen! Next up will be the much-anticipated super lightweight unification fight, the battle of the century between the current WBO and WBA super lightweight champion Wang Hao and the current IBF and WBC super lightweight champion Costa Zu! ”