Palenque Fex, Mexicali, Mexico. In the main event of the show, the final WBC flyweight eliminator (up to 49 kg) took place. Former world champions Hecky Badler (34-4, 10 KOs) from South Africa and Mexican Alvin Soto (19-3, 13 KOs) met in a face-to-face fight. The local fighter greatly disappointed with the performance, lost with the master class.
The favorite Soto occupied the center of the arena. But, as before, the inability to cut the corners of the ring had an effect – it still didn’t work out to pinch Badler at the ropes. He constantly moved, spoiled, failed, countered, scored points. The aggressor slowly followed the African in order to bring his fist to the target. There was no combinational work, and Badler acted ahead of the curve, which greatly complicated the task.
The fans whistled with displeasure, demanding that the guest fight in the center of the ring. But he continued to move, jab, throw twos and break the distance. That is, simply replaying a stylistically limited Mexican. Soto turned up the density of the fight in the 10th round, but made a lot of unnecessary movements. For example, body defense at the moment when Badler is out of the attack zone. That is, it was not displayed in any way on efficiency.
The Mexican did not play better in the championship rounds, he even got knocked down, and could only count on a super scandalous home decision. Will the judges risk robbing the guest? Almost… Three times 114-113 in favor of the guest. Tin, everything was decided by a knockdown in the 12th round …
Badler UD 12.
Updated: Mauricio Suleiman, WBC boss, writes on social media: “I am proud of the work of the WBC judges, who in Mexico gave the victory to the African Badler in the fight with the Mexican Soto.”
Learn cynicism from the pros…
