Sadam Ali wins main event at Barclays
September, 30, 2013
Sep 30
11:36
PM ET
By
Michael Woods | ESPNNewYork.com
Sadam Ali gave and received some punishment, and put together an entertaining main event with Jay Krupp at Barclays Center on Monday night. The Brooklyn boxer, a 2008 Olympian just signed to the Golden Boy roster, had some iffy moments with the fiery and awkward Jay Krupp, who'd studied under Cus D'Amato disciple Kevin Rooney. But Ali, after hitting the deck in Round 1 off a left, found his legs. An overhand right from Ali in the third, plus a knockdown in the eighth cemented the win for the victor.
The judges saw it 79-72, 78-71, and 77-72, for the welterweight Ali, who pronounced himself rusty. "I dropped Krupp two times, I don't know how he thought he won," Ali said of the Louisiana-born Catskills resident. "I wasn't hurt when he knocked me down, it just proves I need to focus," he said.
When Ali got into a rhythm with his jab, he kept Krupp from launching himself with abandon. Ali did get hit with counters, and Krupp's loony left hook, more than he might have liked. But all in all, the 3,059 fans in attendance seemed to enjoy the dramatics and defensive lapses.
The judges saw it 79-72, 78-71, and 77-72, for the welterweight Ali, who pronounced himself rusty. "I dropped Krupp two times, I don't know how he thought he won," Ali said of the Louisiana-born Catskills resident. "I wasn't hurt when he knocked me down, it just proves I need to focus," he said.
When Ali got into a rhythm with his jab, he kept Krupp from launching himself with abandon. Ali did get hit with counters, and Krupp's loony left hook, more than he might have liked. But all in all, the 3,059 fans in attendance seemed to enjoy the dramatics and defensive lapses.
Michael Woods
BoxingMichael Woods, a member of the board of the Boxing Writers Association of America, has been covering boxing since 1991. He writes about boxing for ESPN The Magazine and is the news editor for TheSweetScience.com.
ABOUT THIS BLOG
Michael Woods
Michael Woods has covered boxing since 1990. He is the editor of thesweetscience.com, a board member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and will be a contributing writer at ESPN The Magazine starting in January. As an aspiring fighter in the mid-'90s, he learned to apppreciate the difficulty of the sport.
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