THE Wolverhampton Civic Hall was supposed to be graduation day for Frankie Gavin. The British and Commonwealth champion was taking on battle hardened 39-year-old Leonard Bundu of Italy for his European title. On paper it was a genuine 50-50 fight. Bundu was proven at this level making six defences of his belt that he won in 2011. Gavin, though, was an outstanding amateur and perhaps too slowly had moved to 19-0 since turning pro in 2009. In that time Gavin had captured his two titles and anytime he was pushed up a level he always came through well with wins against Junior Witter and Denton Vassell.
That level was pushed up a huge notch with Bundu but for five rounds Gavin was excellent as he controlled the distance with his southpaw jab, quick straight lefts and movement that wouldn’t let Bundu get set. Anytime Gavin’s back touched the ropes he cleverly spun away leaving Bundu chasing shadows. Gavin looked the real deal, while Bundu looked his age.
The fight then took a dramatic turn in the sixth as a huge right hook to the ribs dropped Gavin heavily. The fight looked over as Gavin rolled about in pain but somehow late in the count he jumped up. It was a brutal body shot and a reverse of what Mike Tyson did all those years ago with his bolo punches. Tyson would hit the body first to make his opponents hand drop so he could take aim at the head with a stunning hook of uppercut. Bundu did the opposite but it had devastating effect as he set Gavin up by aiming a short right hook to the head before quickly moving downstairs with that even harder body shot. No doubts it changed the fight.
Over the next four rounds Bundu took control of the bout as he chased Gavin around the ring but this time Gavin couldn’t spin out of the corner, Bundu had increased the pace but probably more importantly Gavin was still feeling the effects of that blow to the body. With two rounds left the fight was up for grabs, Bundu had turned it around, this writer had him up 95-94 after ten but somehow Gavin found that extra energy to sneak the 11th and then dominate the 12th. It was enough on my card to secure victory by 1 point. The fight was too close to call, maybe three rounds were swing rounds. It was down to the judges all who were from neutral countries as was experienced ref Daniel Van De Wiele of Belguim.
The scores took ages to be announced but when they came it was bad news for Frankie Gavin. The first one gave hope as Judge Robert Verwijs of Holland had it 115-112 for Gavin but he was overruled by German and Spanish Judges Arnold Golger and Manuel Oliver Palomo who both scored it 114-113 for Bundu. Gavin then bolted from the ring disgusted at the verdict but later tweeted it was the wrong thing to do. Bundu will now be looking for a world title fight and hinted he would be vacating the European title and his newly won Commonwealth belt, something he didn’t know he was fighting for until it was placed in his hands after the fight.
Below is the 29 boxing writers scores for this fight along with my full scorecard. A press average score has also been added.
Bobby Hunter’s Scorecard
Round 1…. 10-9 Bundu
Round 2…. 9-10 Gavin
Round 3…. 9-10 Gavin
Round 4…. 9-10 Gavin
Round 5…. 9-10 Gavin
Round 6…. 10-8 Bundu
Round 7…. 10-9 Bundu
Round 8…. 9-10 Gavin
Round 9…. 10-9 Bundu
Round 10.. 10-9 Bundu
Round 11.. 9-10 Gavin
Round 12.. 9-10 Gavin
TOTAL : 114-113 Frankie Gavin
Press Ave Score
114-113 BUNDU
20 scores for Bundu – 69%
7 Scores for Gavin – 24 %
2 scores a Draw – 7 %
Boxing Media Scores
Danny Flexen (Boxing news) : 115-114 Gavin
Barry Jones (Boxnation TV) : 114-113 Gavin
Shaun Brown (Boxingscene) : 114-113 Gavin
Danny Winterbottom (Boxing News Online ) : 114-113 Gavin
Steve Adams Jnr (RingNews24) : 114-113 Gavin
Adam Roberts (Checkhookboxing) : 114-113 Bundu
Ciaran Shanks (Irvine Times) : 114-113 Bundu
Tha Boxing Voice : 116-111 Bundu
Andy Paterson (BoxingAsylum) : 114-113 Bundu
Kasim Aslam (GlobalBoxing) : 115-113 Bundu
Alex Morris (KTC Boxing) : 114-113 Bundu
Daniel Vano (CheckHookBoxing) : 114-113 Bundu
Victor M Salazar (ThaBoxingVoice) : 116-111 Bundu
Instant Boxing : 115-112 Bundu
Nathan Orr (BoxingScene) : 114-113 Bundu
John Evans (LiveFight) : 114-113 Gavin
ATR Boxing Tipster : 115-112 Bundu
Ryan Bivins (SweetBoxing) : 115-111 Bundu
Paul Perotti Boxing : 115-113 Bundu
Livefight : 114-113 Bundu
Andy Clarke (Boxnation TV) : 114-114 DRAW
By The Minute Boxing : 114-113 Bundu
Robert Palmer (CheckHookBoxing) : 115-112 Bundu
First Class Boxing : 114-114 DRAW
Adam Canavan (BoxingMadMagazine) : 114-113 Gavin
John Hoolan (Freelance) : 115-112 Bundu
Matthew McEvoy (Forever Sports) : 114-113 Bundu
Nelson Stanley (Boxrec) : 115-113 Bundu
John A MacDonald (Livefight) : 114-113 Bundu
