Issue 166

April 2018

No one was pleased with the way Abdul Razak Alhassan finished Sabah Homasi in their first fight. Though ‘Judo Thunder’ scored a knockdown, Herb Dean jumped in way too early while ‘The Punisher’s senses were still intact.

“Last time I wasn’t happy about it,” Alhassan said. “You want the crowd to accept your win. When that fight ended, you could hear the boos – it wasn’t good. I wasn’t happy at all. This time, there’s no doubt it was a fluke or the referee stopped it too early.”

It certainly wasn’t. The Ghanaian came out firing in the rematch to make sure of a win as quickly as possible, but he didn’t have much success with wild punches in the first couple of minutes. That changed when he heard his corners’ advice and scored a decisive blow in.

“I’m just angry. I just want to go. My coaches told me to calm down. Be patient. You’re better than him everywhere. There’s nowhere he can take you that you cannot do better than him. Just take your time, be calm and it was exactly what I wanted to happen.”

STEP 1: THE PLAN

“It wasn’t something I planned ahead of time, but I saw the way he was moving his head. My coaches were telling me to throw straight instead of overhand.”

STEP 2: TAKE BREATH

“During the fight, I could hear Kamaru Usman in my head saying, ‘Be calm and collected. Take your time.’”

STEP 3: THE OPENING

“I saw him moving his head to the left. I knew he was going to duck that way to avoid my overhand, so that’s when I threw the uppercut…”

STEP 4: THE FINALE

“It feels amazing to connect like that! It also feels good to listen to your coaches, especially when I’m balled up and ready to go!”