Junior Fa has kept his perfect undefeated record but the manner of his victory over American Craig Lewis today won't please him as much.
New Zealander Fa beat Lewis by majority decision over eight rounds in Deadwood, South Dakota, his second fight to be screened live by Showtime in the United States much less dramatic than his last, a stunning first-round knockout over Fred Latham in November.
Fa was in control throughout but had a nervous moment when one of the judges scored the bout 76-76. The other two scored it 79-73 and 78-74, scores which appeared more in keeping with the performances of the two men.
The main issue was Fa's workrate. He came into this bout at 116kg, the lightest of his professional career, but while his opponent appeared near exhausted for the second half of the fight, Fa couldn't take advantage because he didn't throw enough punches.
He connected with several right hands, but they were telegraphed. A left hook might have had Lewis in trouble but Fa threw mainly the jab and there were too few combinations in a stop-start fight marred by too many clinches.
