Fail master-class is too much for Amir

Abubaker and Manning after a victory. On Saturday Amir tasted defeat. Picture: Inga Zulyte

THE levels in boxing are harder to reach than in other sports.

At Bournemouth International Centre on Saturday, Coventry KO artist Amir Abubaker attempted to reach higher ground and suffered the first defeat in a rampaging 10 fight, six KO career.

The eighth-round loss to Northampton southpaw Carl Fail cost Abubaker his Midlands light-middleweight belt. The scheduled 10 rounder also served as a British title eliminator.

In his first appearance on a major televised show – the bill was staged by Queensberry, screened on DAZN - Abubaker had his moment, but the hooks and uppercuts that demolished so many opponents failed to dent former amateur star Fail.

When Carl took full-blooded shots without flinching, I knew Abubaker was in for a hard night.

Iraq born Amir, a man who runs barber shops in his home city, is used to cutting down the opposition. Fail frustrated him, outfoxed him and then floored him.

A short left sent shockwaves through Abubaker and a following barrage dropped him against the ropes. He was done for the night, the referee waving it off at two minutes three seconds of the eighth.

I got this one wrong. I felt Fail had picked too dangerous an opponent to make his ring return after a near two year absence. I’d seen the power Abubaker possesses.

Fight analyst Adam Harper, former English light-middleweight champ, got the result spot on. He said Fail’s pedigree would prove decisive, he warned of a late stoppage.

He pointed out Fail was in an entirely different class from the opponents Amir had faced.

Defeat must be a bitter blow for the 25-year-old and his manager Anthony Manning. In previous interviews I’ve sensed Abubaker truly believed he was invincible. He now knows he is not.

He certainly predicted world titles. Abubaker certainly stated he was better than Midlands title level.

Those words came back to haunt him in Saturday’s area championship.

He said in an interview days before the contest: “My only option is to win because I can’t go back to those small halls.”

Unfortunately, that is where the rebuilding process may well begin. And he can bounce back.

He wasn’t disgraced by Fail, he pressed throughout and at times seemed capable of breaking down his opponent. Let’s also not forget, he and Manning took the fight at less than a month’s notice.

It’s just that Fail, now unbeaten in 11, boxed immaculately. His footwork and head movement was superb, the jab pin-point accurate. He always had the last word in exchanges.

I expected ring-rust, instead the winner’s arsenal gleamed.

Amir played his part in an exciting opening round and forced Fail back at the end of the third. In the fourth the champ bulled Fail against the ropes, worked the body and ripped in uppercuts – only to cop a solid left hand counter. He ended the session gashed over the right eye.

The fifth was probably his best. Abubaker pressed, raising hopes he had solved the riddle in front of him.

It was a false dawn. Fail used the ring intelligently, then planted his feet to unleash spiteful counters.

At times Amir missed wildly and those swings at thin air must’ve taken a toll on energy levels.

Fail clinically chipped away until Abubaker was ready to be taken: he out-thought him, then out-fought him. When the opportunity came, he ended matters in style.

Boxing is an unforgiving business. This was the test and platform Amir craved – he boxed bravely and was competitive, but did not pass the test.

Other tests will present themselves, of that I’m sure, and Fail has helped Abubaker be more prepared for them.

It’s a boxing cliché, but a single loss is rarely the “be all and end all”. How you respond to it is the be all and end all.