Boxing In Australia: Mundine Retains WBA Belt With Win Over Hamdan

Last night at The Enterainment Centre in Sydney, Australia, WBA Super Middleweight Champ Anthony Mundine was pushed very hard in a twelve round title defense by former Australian, IBF Pan Pacific and OPBF Light Middle titlist Nader Hamdan before pulling out the unanimous decision win.

Hamdan, 40-6 (18), spent the early part of the bout attacking Mundine’s body and the champion made the challenger pay for the transgressions with sharp counter shots on the inside but that seemed to have very little effect on Hamdan.

As the contest wore on, Hamdan forced Mundine into countless pitched battles that saw both men dealing out and absorbing punishment along the ropes and the center of the ring.

The challenger relentlessly pursued Mundine but with perhaps the fastest hands in the division, “The Man” began to pull clear and win rounds as he beat Hamdan to the punch on most of the exchanges.

By the time the twelve rounds were over, Mundine had been forced to work harder than he had in any other previous victory as Hamdan put in a tremendously driven performance.

Mundine improves to 31-3 (23), with the 117-111, 119-109 and 120-108 victory while Hamdan loses his second in a row, dropping to 40-6 (18).