After his bout against Christian Fabian Luis was halted after four rounds, Cuban cruiserweight contender Mike Perez was disappointed to leave the ring in Benghazi, Libya with a No Decision on his record.
Sporting bleached blond hair and a greying beard, Perez landed a left hand on the bell at the end of round four and his opponent dropped theatrically, lingered on the canvas, staggered back to his corner, sat for a while and was withdrawn after talking to his team.
The blow in question was ruled unintentional, meaning the verdict was rendered a No Decision.
Southpaw Perez tried to get his left hand flowing early, while his opponent looked for short right hook counters.
The 39-year-old Perez also looked for openings to the Argentine’s body, scoring with occasional lefts downstairs.
Fabian Luis, a winner in his last three, entered the contest with 12 wins against four losses. He’d won eight by stoppage.
The crowd, at the Martyrs of Benina Stadium – and with former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson looking on – watched Fabian Luis try to change things up in the third. He was pivoting off his front foot and landing hooks from angles, but in the fourth – and with Perez marching forward and through the leather that came his way – he landed a left hand on the bell and, somewhat delayed, the Argentine dropped heavily.
Perez quickly apologized but his opponent rolled onto his front, then onto his side, and Perez returned to his corner and shook his head.
Perez is 31-3-1 (22 KOs, 1 ND), and was boxing for the second time this year having retired popular Irishman Steven Ward in the ninth round when they boxed in Ipswich, England, in June.
Frenchman Sofiane Oumiha was stunned as he lost for the first time as a pro, upset by veteran Francisco Fonseca via decision over 10 rounds.
Oumiha, 6-1 (3 KOs), lost in the final of the Paris Olympics to Cuban Erislandy Alvarez and it was announced earlier today that Oumiha was signing with Agon, the German boxing promotion, having previously been professional with Queensberry Polska before returning to amateur boxing (he’d boxed as a pro in 2022 and 2023 before returning to the unpaid code to compete at his home Olympics).
Fonseca, a 31-year-old from Nicaragua, largely found his opponent hard to hit in the opener and had his head jolted back a few times. But Fonseca, winner of his five previous bouts, was game and kept attacking. He ate a right hand with about a minute left in the second and a left hook near the bell.
But at the end of the next, the Frenchman got careless and, when caught, tried to open up but was hit by more of the Nicaraguan’s swings and dropped by a right hand. He rose quickly, but intelligently dropped to a knee to take the count and give himself more time to recover.
The contest opened up in fifth and both landed big shots. They traded left hooks in the seventh of a fast-paced affair. Fonseca was relentless and giving Oumiha plenty to think about. At various stages of the ninth, Oumiha tried to hold, but Fonseca pushed him off and often found a home for his straight right. The Frenchman looked ragged in the last round and just before the final bell he swung and missed with a left hook and fell in a heap.
It was scored 97-92 and 95-94 (twice) and Fonseca dropped to the canvas and wept with joy.
Fonseca is now 37-4-2 (29 KOs).
