Zolani Tete’s team has blamed Argentinean challenger Omar Narvaez for a negative approach in their WBO bantamweight title clash held at the SSE Arena in Belfast, Northern Ireland at the weekend.
Tete won every round en route to 120-108 scores across the board to retain his WBO bantamweight title.
Narvaez never attempted to make a fight of it despite being a challenger. The Argentinean veteran hardly put a sustained offence, allowing Tete to pot-shot him with jabs throughout the fight which deteriorated into a boring affair.
The Daily Dispatch had predicted that the fight might turn into a bore as Narvaez is renowned for his survival antics rather than gallant effort to win a fight.
In 2011, Narvaez moved up to challenge Filipino Nonito Donaire for the same crown he fought Tete for.
Instead of trying to win the fight, Narvaez was in survival mode from the first bell, eliciting loud boos from the spectators while also taking flak from the media.
But he was expected to at least show up against Tete as the win would have made him the first Argentinean boxer to win three world titles.
Tete’s team was visibly disappointed by the cautious approach of the South American.
“Narvaez never tried to make a fight of it, but we suspected that and prepared for him in advance,” said Tete’s manager Mla Tengimfene from Belfast.
“We worked on our jab to pile up points and never got carried away. What is important is that we retained our title and now that we are over Narvaez, we will look at other possibilities.”
The judges did not give the Argentinean veteran a single round in a lacklustre bout described as a “snoozer” by several international boxing publications.
So boring was the fight that it watered down Tete’s drama from his last fight held at the same venue last November.
This when he left people gaping with a 11-seconds knockout win over Siboniso Gonya to set a new record.
The win prompted his English promoter Frank Warren to bring him back to the venue which is the backyard of Ryan Burnett whom Tete is chasing for a unification clash.
Burnett, who holds the WBA crown in the division, is affiliated to Warren’s rival Eddie Hearn, making the fight impossible to organise.
But Tengimfene is not worried by his charge’s latest performance, arguing that it takes two to tango.
“We did all we were expected to do and we are glad that Zolani is still a world champion,” he insisted.
“Zolani cannot keep on knocking out every opponent because some challengers will come determined to avoid being knocked out.”
The win took Tete’s fight record to 27 victories and three losses while Narvaez dropped to three defeats and two draws in 53 bouts.
The Tete team is expected to arrive in East London at 5pm today.
lMeanwhile, Mdantsane veteran Ali Funeka lost a split decision to Russian Islam Dumanov in a junior welterweight clash at Pabellon Municipal, Sedavi, Comunidad Valenciana in Spain on Friday.
The loss was the fourth in a row for the 40-year-old veteran.
Tete retains title in lacklustre fight
Tete won every round en route to 120-108 scores across the board to retain his WBO bantamweight title.
Narvaez never attempted to make a fight of it despite being a challenger. The Argentinean veteran hardly put a sustained offence, allowing Tete to pot-shot him with jabs throughout the fight which deteriorated into a boring affair.
The Daily Dispatch had predicted that the fight might turn into a bore as Narvaez is renowned for his survival antics rather than gallant effort to win a fight.
In 2011, Narvaez moved up to challenge Filipino Nonito Donaire for the same crown he fought Tete for.
Instead of trying to win the fight, Narvaez was in survival mode from the first bell, eliciting loud boos from the spectators while also taking flak from the media.
But he was expected to at least show up against Tete as the win would have made him the first Argentinean boxer to win three world titles.
Tete’s team was visibly disappointed by the cautious approach of the South American.
“Narvaez never tried to make a fight of it, but we suspected that and prepared for him in advance,” said Tete’s manager Mla Tengimfene from Belfast.
“We worked on our jab to pile up points and never got carried away. What is important is that we retained our title and now that we are over Narvaez, we will look at other possibilities.”
The judges did not give the Argentinean veteran a single round in a lacklustre bout described as a “snoozer” by several international boxing publications.
So boring was the fight that it watered down Tete’s drama from his last fight held at the same venue last November.
This when he left people gaping with a 11-seconds knockout win over Siboniso Gonya to set a new record.
The win prompted his English promoter Frank Warren to bring him back to the venue which is the backyard of Ryan Burnett whom Tete is chasing for a unification clash.
Burnett, who holds the WBA crown in the division, is affiliated to Warren’s rival Eddie Hearn, making the fight impossible to organise.
But Tengimfene is not worried by his charge’s latest performance, arguing that it takes two to tango.
“We did all we were expected to do and we are glad that Zolani is still a world champion,” he insisted.
“Zolani cannot keep on knocking out every opponent because some challengers will come determined to avoid being knocked out.”
The win took Tete’s fight record to 27 victories and three losses while Narvaez dropped to three defeats and two draws in 53 bouts.
The Tete team is expected to arrive in East London at 5pm today.
lMeanwhile, Mdantsane veteran Ali Funeka lost a split decision to Russian Islam Dumanov in a junior welterweight clash at Pabellon Municipal, Sedavi, Comunidad Valenciana in Spain on Friday.
The loss was the fourth in a row for the 40-year-old veteran.
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