Dappa Napa too Smooth for Booth by Terry Dooley Jul 7th 2007

Ian Napa earned a thoroughly deserved unanimous points decision over Jason Booth last night at the Robin Park Arena in Wigan. Napa, so often the nearly-man in British boxing, boxed superbly throughout this absorbing contest to win by margins of 117-113, 115-113 and 116-113 on the cards of Phil Edwards, Howard Foster and Dave Parris respectively. BBN had it 116-112 for Napa who boxed well. The fight had a dual purpose for Napa, a chance to gain revenge for his previous loss to booth for the British Flyweight title (suffered in November 2000) as well as giving Napa the chance to pick-up the vacant British bantamweight title. Napa, 8st 6lb, came in looking a little bit fleshy, yet his boxing skills, upper-body movement and body shots made-up for this. In fact Napa fought as dapperly as a diminutive James Toney as Booth constantly made the mistake, or possibly his legs gave him no choice, of fighting Napa in-close. Booth, 8st 4lb, came in to the Fat Joe song ‘Lean Back' yet from the first bell was leaning forwards into Napa as both men worked inside during a scrappy few opening rounds. Booth seemed to be throwing more shots in an effort to force the fight plus kick-start his comeback, after battling with out of the ring issues, only for Napa to prove unerringly accurate with body shots. Napa was as active and energetic as Aya Napa on the inside. In particular his left hook to the body and right uppercut to the body, in truth shots Booth should not have been there to take, were strength sapping. In the second the slightly messy action was improved as Napa found his range with a lovely straight right hand that seemed to make Booth's knees do a little jig before Jason regrouped. The shoulder-to-shoulder fight was favouring Napa. Booth had greater range yet was unable to get on his toes or get his jab out regularly, it came out briefly in the fourth but it was a pawing blow. As both men worked inside Jason would lean-in to try to deliver shots, this left a greater expanse of body for Napa to exploit. By the midway point there was more cohesion in the work of Napa. Fighting like a mini-Toney Napa was really giving Jason a going over in the body shots department. Then, when Jason did try straighter shots, Napa would roll them across his shoulder and sling his own right over. This type of fighting style requires an opponent who will lean into you, Booth could have stepped-back and boxed it clever thereby taking the range and balance away from Napa but for one reason or another Jason could not do this. Round six saw some concerted bodywork from Napa. A right hand to the head, off the ropes, brought a strong reply from Booth, a pair of left hooks to the head and body, only for Napa to land a right hand to the body followed by a left hook to the body and a pair of hooks, left and right, to the head. So far it was a question of what you liked, do you want more punching or accurate punching? This writer enjoys the style Napa employed and, most importantly, his accuracy was excellent. To his credit Jason altered tack in the seventh and eighth to even-up the fight a little. Jason started to go for multiple shots, therefore catching Napa with the third or fourth blow. Despite being given a moment's pause by a right hand in the seventh Jason came back with his own right hand then went southpaw in round eight to score with jabs. From this moment on, though, Napa seized control of the fight and also brought out a few jabs of his own in round nine. Jason put a lot of effort into the tenth round, perhaps sensing he was being out-scored, only to see Napa again go for the body. Jason would land the odd headshot then Napa would double this tally with bodywork. By the final two rounds it seemed clear that, barring a difference of perspective, Napa had the fight in the bag. A cry of “Yeah” in the corner from Napa, after the eleventh round, was in stark contrast to the despair Jason seemed to show between a few of the rounds as his corner tried to advise him back into the fight. It was not to be as Napa landed a left hook to the body, a jab to the head and more body shots in the twelfth round. Booth showed that his pride is still as strong as ever by replying with a right uppercut and left hook but when the final bell sounded there could only be one winner. BBN spoke with Napa after the bout. Ian was ebullient about the result, he felt he had finally had got what he deserved and he was clearly cherishing possessing the Lonsdale belt. I asked him if he had been finding a lot to admire in the style of James Toney and Napa confirmed that he was taking bits and pieces from Toney as well as Floyd Mayweather. As boxing role models go he has chosen a stellar pair to emulate and, last night at least, he did them, and himself, proud. Another fighter who did himself proud on the bill was Heywood's Mark Thompson. Mark is desperate to take on the British contenders but his KO ratio means few are willing to face him. Therefore Mark felt he had no choice but to step up, both in weight and class, to fight Vincent Vuma over twelve rounds in a move his manager Steve Woods described as crazy-brave. Mark, 10st 12lb, was crazy-brave in the fight itself as he tried to match the bigger and more experienced man blow-for-blow before succumbing to a series of body shots in the eighth round. Vuma, 10st 13lb 10oz, himself had to come through a torrid few moments as he found Mark a determined young man to shift. Both men were a bit wary in the first round, Vuma was facing the unknown whereas Mark was stepping way out off the British comfort zone. When Mark worked behind the jab he could bring left hooks and right hands, which did not always land, into the fight. Over the first two rounds he did this well despite the fact Vuma was landing enough on the counter to suggest that experience may tell in the fight. Vuma really started to warm to the task in round three. His class showed as he started to throw left jabs to the body, an underused and underrated blow, to open Mark up for right hands to the head. Mark was undeterred; he fired in his jab, right hand and left hook to the head of Vuma, unfortunately the combination had become a tad samey, again a sign that Mark was stepping-up a level. In this round Vuma was popping Mark's head back with his jab, a left hook also rocked the head of Thompson only for Thompson to respond with a clipping left hook, Vuma then came back with a left and right hook to close out the round as Mark, ominously, slipped to the canvas. Mark had seemed distracted a few times in the early rounds, once he glanced at the ref after Vuma rushed in during round one and in round two he glanced at the ropes after being clipped. In round four Mark seemed suddenly unsure of the task ahead of him. Vuma, perhaps sensing that his experience was about to take over, landed a solid right hand only for Mark to pop Vuma's head back with a stiff jab. When Mark committed to his punches he could wobble Vuma yet it was Vuma who scored heaviest in this round. A jab and right hand over Mark's attempted shots sent Mark down heavily on his side late in the round. Unable to capitalise Vuma nonetheless went back to his corner possibly feeling the job was half-done. Amazingly Thompson would prove him wrong in the next session. The fifth opened-up badly for Mark; a right uppercut to the body followed by a two-shot salvo to the ribs from Vuma showed the South Africans class before Thompson, perhaps aware referee Daniel Van Der Wiele was watching him closely, fired his own one-two, as he came off the ropes, to instigate some back-and-forth exchanges. Vuma came on strong only for Mark to dig out a pair of shots, a right hand and left hook as Vuma came in, to turn the round around. Soon after this a left hook to the body landed perfectly and dropped Vuma, a jab went in also as Vuma went over, and Mark's ecstatic fans erupted. Vuma beat the count, again the knockdown was late in the round, and came out warily for the next round. After scoring his knockdown Mark faced a Hobson's choice. He could ditch his guard and go left hook crazy for a round or two in the hope of finishing Vuma or carry-on boxing in the hope Vuma would not last the pace as well. In the end it was experience that told. Mark's knockdown had given his confidence a big knock-back despite a great response. Mark had fought like a man possessed at times to keep himself in the fight but, as round six showed, Vuma was able to stay composed and Vincent came back into the fight without tiring himself excessively. In this the sixth Vuma came back from his knockdown with some clubbing right hands, it was the right hand of Vuma versus the left hooks of Mark, a shot Vuma was open to in-close. Mark tried a few left hooks to the body but was unable to land them cleanly as Vuma continued to gather pace. Fading fast Thompson again showed character in round seven as pushed out his shots. A right hand moved Vuma back, Thompson then posted signs that he could come all the way back as he landed a right hand to the body and a left hook to the head of Vuma. Vuma, though, was landing his own blows and dictating when and where Mark traded shots. It had become abundantly clear that this one was not going to the cards and Mark was in a ‘KO or be KO'd' pitched battle. Vuma was relaxed in the eighth round; he had recovered well from the torrid fifth and difficult sixth rounds. A one-two pushed Mark back, again Mark was distracted in there, this time he looked at Frank Maloney before a right hook and left jab to the body forced Thompson to his knees for a count. Mark got up to ensure that he was going out on his shield only for more body shots, this time culminating in a right hook to the body, to thud sickeningly home and force the referee to end Mark's brave step-up in weight and class at 1:35 of round eight. In the end, as Mark tired, there were too many gaps, especially to the body, for Vuma to exploit. Despite the loss Mark surely learned a trick of two from Vuma. As it stands his resilience against the odds had produced a thrilling fight as well as that magic moment in the fifth when it looked like the younger man may have turned the fight around. It was not to be though. Mark's guard was loose from the start and tiring muscles made it looser as the bout progressed. It was a tale of two knockdowns: in round four Mark went down and, despite uncorking a corking left hook to the body in the next stanza, took some heavy shots in the following round. In round five Vuma went down but came back strong in round six despite Mark fighting well in this round also. BBN visited Mark post-fight to thank him for a fine fight. As Mark explained he was in above his natural weight division and as the fight progressed he had felt the extra poundage tell. Thompson seemed a little deflated about losing but he took a gamble and can definitely comeback strong as long as he keeps his head-up. Photos: Al Stevenson

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