Napa is too good for brave Moffett

Other Sports

Saturday, May 03, 2008

Colin Moffett brought his trademark bravery to the ring last night but unfortunately for him all the class was with Ian Napa.

British bantamweight champion Napa outboxed east Belfast man Moffett from the opening bell at the Harvey Hadden Leisure Centre and duly picked up a unanimous decision from judges Richie Davies (119-109), Howard Foster (117-111) and John Keane (119-108).

To his credit Irish champion Moffett soaked up numerous crisp blows from Napa and kept coming back for more but simply didn't have the tools to prevent him from landing a Lonsdale belt outright.

Yet the 33-year-old fitness instructor still managed to win the tenth round on my card and share the 12th as he kept pushing forward, walking through the blows continually coming his way.

The first three rounds could have been held in a phone booth as they stood toe-to-toe, which suited Moffett's style but even then he was coming off second best as Napa whipped home his body shots.

Napa was tucking up and then exploding with clusters which Moffett had no answer to.

The body attack continued and in the fourth the Belfast man winced from the onslaught.

Moffett enjoyed a rare period of success at the start of the sixth but in the second half of the round Napa moved up a gear and started to once more connect with his neat counter blows.

Napa was content to stand with his back against the ropes and allow Moffett to walk on to his flashing punches.

Moffett's conditioning proved to be a credit to cornerman John Breen and none more so than in the eighth when he took a constant barrage of sickening hooks to the body.

Yet in the ninth he still came out throwing plenty of leather and outworked the champion in the tenth.

In the 11th Moffett found himself on the canvas and taking a count, though it was more of a clash of heads than a punch from Napa.

Courageously he heard the final bell and while the dream was never going to become reality he can hold his head high and maybe this is the note on which he should retire.

Meanwhile, Oscar De La Hoya is refusing to look past tonight's opponent Stevie Forbes to his September rematch with Floyd Mayweather Jr.

De La Hoya returns to the ring at the Home Depot Center in his native Los Angeles almost exactly a year since his initial showdown with pound for pound king Mayweather ended in a split-decision defeat.

"To all those who say that this is a tune-up I say I'm not falling for that," said De La Hoya, who has won 38 of his 43 fights.