The footage was difficult to watch, but World Boxing News chose to let the dust settle before revisiting an incident that could easily have ended far worse for former British champion Samuel Antwi.
Everybody made the story about the referee, and understandably so. However, there was another side to what unfolded in Lagos that also deserved recognition.
To even get back to his feet after the knockdown took remarkable courage.
Antwi somehow beat the count despite appearing badly hurt, only to absorb another barrage of punches before the fight was finally stopped.
Samuel Antwi vs Suleiman Jafaru
The former British super welterweight champion suffered a sixth-round stoppage defeat to Suleiman Jafaru on the ‘Chaos in the Ring‘ card at the Balmoral Convention Center in Lagos, Nigeria.
After being caught by a stiff jab, Antwi’s legs visibly buckled before Jafaru unleashed a series of punches that sent him crashing to the canvas.
Antwi somehow climbed back to his feet.
However, the video showed the Londoner on unsteady legs as referee Constance Chinagorom allowed the contest to continue.
Jafaru immediately resumed his attack, landing another ten unanswered punches before the referee finally stepped in to wave the fight off. Antwi’s corner also reacted late with the towel.
The sequence left serious questions over whether Antwi should have been allowed to continue.
Balmoral Promotions
Protection First
Referees are in the ring first and foremost to protect fighters.
Antwi’s bravery in forcing himself back to his feet cannot be questioned. Neither can the courage it took to continue trying to defend himself after such a punishing knockdown.
However, bravery and fighter safety are two very different things.
Once Antwi returned to his feet on unsteady legs, the referee had a responsibility to decide whether he was capable of continuing safely. Allowing another sustained barrage of punches inevitably shifted the focus onto the officiating rather than Jafaru’s impressive victory.
Thankfully, Antwi later reassured supporters that he had come through the contest safely.
“In both victory and defeat, all glory to God,” Antwi wrote.
“Lord, I thank you for the strength to step into the ring.
“Though the outcome was not what I hoped for, I trust that you have a greater plan for me.
“Thank you that both my opponent and I walked out of the ring safely.”
Those were the best words to come out of the night. The outcome could easily have been very different.
About the Author
Phil Jay is the Editor-in-Chief of World Boxing News (WBN), a BWAA-acknowledged boxing news website founded in 2010. A veteran boxing reporter with 16 years of experience, he has interviewed world champions, broken international exclusives, and reported ringside from major events. His work is published worldwide through WBN and distributed on platforms including Apple News.
Recent training footage of Terence Crawford has sparked rumours that the pound-for-pound superstar could be planning a comeback. Fellow former welterweight champion Shawn Porter has now weighed in.
Crawford and Porter fought back in 2021 in what turned out to be Porter’s final bout, with ‘Bud’ defending his WBO title via round 10 stoppage and then continuing his welterweight KO streak in clashes with David Avanesyan and Errol Spence Jr to claim the undisputed title at 147lbs.
The Omaha southpaw then got his hands on super-welterweight world honours with a triumph over Israil Madrimov, before the crowning moment of his career – an undisputed super-middleweight title win against Canelo Alvarez.
The undefeated sensation hung up the gloves just three months later, but footage of him back in the gym has led fans to believe that Crawford could soon return.
However, in an interview with About BoxingPorter all but shut down those suggestions, revealing that Crawford’s retirement plans were in place long before his triumph over Canelo and that his decision was not made without serious thought.
“Without saying too much, I will say that I don’t think he is going to come back. I don’t want to say that I know he is not going to come back because I feel like that is saying too much, but we have had our conversations a long time before he even fought Canelo Alvarez.
“We have had conversations over the years and I knew that time was coming after that Canelo fight, what else do you want to do?”
Instead, it is understood that Crawford’s return to the gym was done to aid stablemate Lester Martinezwho takes on Luka Plantic on Saturday in an attempted second defence of his WBC Interim super-middleweight title.
Teofimo Lopez became a three-division world champion as he dethroned Rolando Romero to capture the WBA welterweight title last week, but fellow welterweight world champion Ryan Garcia has admitted that he disagrees with the result of the fight.
Lopez boxed on the front foot and appeared to dominate the majority of the proceedings at T-Mobile Arena on Saturday. The judges ultimately awarded ‘The Takeover’ a majority-decision victory, although most felt he had done enough to win by a wider margin. The victory sets up a host of blockbuster fights for Lopez.
One of those potential dust-up’s is a unification against WBC welterweight ruler, Garcia, who Lopez has openly revealed is the targeted opponent for his next outing.
Speaking with FightHypeGarcia analysed Lopez’s display against Romero and declared that he believes a draw would have been the correct outcome.
“He did [hurt Teofimo]. We were watching it, it was pretty good, none of them really made it clear [who won]for me, [in terms of] like domination.
“I told my Dad, if you are going to give it to anybody you have got to give it to Teo for pushing the action, but in my honest opinion it felt like a draw, just from a boxers perspective.
“Nobody really put their dominance on it, then all of these people that think they know about boxing, but they don’t know s**t, are saying ‘Teo won so easily,’ – no, the f**k he didn’t.
“He [Teo] didn’t even touch him, really. Rolly’s face was clean, Teofimo looked like he got jumped and s**t.”
Before Garcia-Lopez can be made, Garcia must first defend his WBC crown against Conor Benn in an intriguing clash in two weeks’ time.
The location of Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua’s much-reported showdown continues to cause a stir in the world of boxing, and heavyweight icon Mike Tyson has shared his thoughts on where the clash should take place.
After both Fury and ‘AJ’ won in their ‘warm-ups’ last month, an announcement was expected almost immediately, but it seems as though talks have stalled, with Eddie Hearn and Joshua insisting that the event goes ahead in the United Kingdom.
However, Netflix and Sela are pushing for the fight to happen in the US, maintaining that it makes more business sense for the card to take place stateside.
Speaking to The Daily Mail‘Iron Mike’ stated that, even though he would not be permitted to attend, he believes that Fury-Joshua should happen in London, because the English fans will be the ones to sell it out – as they did in his two meetings with Frank Bruno in the 1990’s.
“It’s going to be a great fight, it’s going to be great for boxing. Even though I can’t go – I’m barred from London – I think London should get the fight.”
“They’re both English and if they come here, all the English people are going to come anyway. So you’re home already, let’s do it there!’
“Everybody that [wants] to be there, they’re going to come into the United States – it’s going to be full of English people. It’s going to be just like it is over there.
“There ain’t going to be many Americans there because they’ll sell it out. All the English – very few Americans – sold it out when I [twice] fought Frank Bruno.”
The once ‘Baddest Man on the Planet’ then went on to deny suggestions that both men have severely declined of late, believing that the desire they each have for this contest will bring the best out of both Joshua and Fury.
“It’s going to be a great fight, it’s going to be great for boxing. And I think they both still have enough in them once they get the desire,
“People think they lose because they can’t fight. They lose because they lose their desire. I’m sure [Joshua] would get back up for this fight.
“He’s had exciting fights, the guy [Kristian Prenga] dropped him, he got back up and he clocked the guy. That was very exciting.”
It is believed that Friday, November 20, is the targeted date for the event.