San Francisco welterweight Karim Mayfield scored a 10th-round technical knockout victory Friday over Steve Forbes in Austin on ESPN2.
Mayfield (14-0, nine knockouts) won virtually every round and was seldom hit hard, so it turned out to be a resounding victory in the biggest fight of his five-year career. But for most of the fight it was not an artistic success, as the bout was riddled with holding and Mayfield initiated his share of it.
As ESPN2 analyst Teddy Atlas aptly noted, Mayfield needed not only to win but to do so telegenically, and Atlas termed Karim?s approach ?not always the most conducive to the fans? being pleased.”
But Mayfield did carry the fight. He repeatedly beat Forbes (35-10) to the punch, and outwilled him, too. That was his edge in the early rounds, which Forbes presumably was intent upon merely surviving so that he could take Mayfield, whose previous longest fight was six rounds, into uncharted territory. Advertisement
Instead Mayfield simply picked up steam. Forbes became more aggressive in the second half of the bout, but Mayfield found more openings as a result and began landing bigger and bigger blows in the eighth and ninth.
He was landing enough in the 10th to warrant 10-8 scoring for the round had it not ended prematurely. Forbes, who had never been stopped, not even against Oscar De La Hoya, nearly dipped a knee to the canvas shortly before the end. But referee Gregorio Alvarez?s stoppage at 1:03 was questionable, and it was booed.
Still, the win approximated the expectations those of who follow Mayfield brought into this fight. Forbes, who came in overweight at 148.5 pounds, is 34 and is an overblown lightweight, may have been at several disadvantages, but he is a former super-featherweight belt-holder, so this was a very respectable showing for Mayfield.
