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Denmark’s Fawaz Nasir failed to capitalize on his careers biggest opportunity to make an instant name for himself on the European super middleweight scene, when he lost a close but fair unanimous decision to undefeated Germany-based Pole Lukas Wilascheck in Düsseldorf Saturday night (July 28). The fight was scored 96-95, 96-94 and 97-94 after ten rounds for the International German championship. Nasir’s record dipped to 11-2 (6), as the defending champion improved his to 18-0 (6).
Nasir came out very strong in the first round, and completely dominated Wilascheck with a lightning quick jab and nice combinations. For the first three rounds, which Nasir surely won on all scorecards, it looked like it would be an easy night for the Dane, as he repeatedly connected with clean and crisp punches. In the third, he pinned Wilascheck against the ropes, and unleashed with several hard shots that made the Spotlight Boxing-fighter glad to hear the bell.
In round four, Wilascheck had more success, and the round was relatively even. After that, Nasir seemed to just stop doing the things he had been so successful with, and almost completely neglected to use his right hand, hooks and uppercuts. For Wilascheck it became too easy to deal only with the jab, and he probably edged rounds 5 – 8 with all judges. Compared to the first three rounds, the tide had completely turned, even though the action was fairly close.
In the ninth, Nasir seemed to realise that he was throwing away the victory, and he started to find his target better, being more aggressive, and scored with right hands that bloodied Wilascheck’s nose. Winning that round evened things out a little, but when a close tenth went to his opponent, the writing was on the wall, and the unanimous decision awarded to the home-man with the crowd loudly booing the verdict. Not necessary, says manager Henrik Risum:
“Not at all! Wilascheck deserved to win, even though it was close. But Fawaz plain and simple let himself down and allowed Wilascheck win this fight because he didn’t do what he was told, and what he had trained for and done over and over again for six weeks in the gym.
“He did very well for three rounds, but then threw it all away. I can’t explain it, and I don’t think he can explain it either, but this was a fight he could and should have won clearly and without problems,” said Risum after the fight, and continued:
“He trained harder than ever before, had better sparring than ever before, and for three rounds boxed better than ever before. But then he just seemed to shut down, and stopped doing what he was supposed to. Mind you, he wasn’t injured or feeling poorly, he just shut down for some strange and inexplicable reason.
“This was the perfect fight for him, and after loosing it this way, it’s hard for me to see where we can go next, to be honest. Fawaz is a very good kid, but this is something that has to be considered thoroughly by all parties involved. We are all very disappointed, including Fawaz of course.”
