03.03.05 – Giza, Egypt: Having now effectively cleaned out all domestic opposition, Egyptian light middleweight hope Ahmed “The Riot” Mustafa hopes he will soon be given the chance to test his strength in Europe. And after winning the Egyptian 154 Lb. title last night (March 3) at the Zamalek Sporting Club Basketball Hall, he claims to be ready for anyone, anywhere..
Mustafa was faced with archrival Ramadhan Mahmoud, whom he stopped in two rounds last year, and even though the grudge-rematch lasted longer this time, Mustafa again proved in a different league than his foe. With superior skill and determination, he dissected Mahmoud for three rounds, before a sympathetic trainer had seen enough midway through the fourth and intervened to save his man. Mustafa improved his perfect record to 9-0 (7), while Mahmoud dropped to 4-2 (0). The fight was scheduled for twelve rounds, but from the second round it was obvious it wouldn’t last that long.
In a scheduled eight-rounder, another rivalry wrote itself a new chapter, when featherweight Ibrahim Mostafa took on stablemate and former conqueror Ibrahim Saed. Saed had beaten Mostafa on points over six rounds last August, but this time the score would be evened out. It was, however, a close fight all the way through, but when Mostafa opened a huge cut over Saed´s right eye, the doctor decided to stop the entertaining bout in the fourth. At the time of the stoppage, Mostafa (now 6-2-2, 3 KOs) was leading by scores 30-29, 30-29 and 30-29, and a rubber-match could be a possibility for the summer. This was the first defeat for Saed, who dipped to 5-1 (1).
The shows promoter, Richard Nwoba, stepped through the ropes himself, but had to give up seventeen pounds to dangerman Sayed Ablaziz. The 29-year-old Nigerian normally fights at super middle and light heavyweight, while the bull-like Ablaziz is a solid cruiserweight, and the physical disadvantage gave the undefeated African some problems, even though he did just enough to win the first three rounds on all scorecards. In the third, Ablaziz connected with a massive right hand, which broke the nose of Nwoba, but he came out strong in the fourth and caught Ablaziz with precise and hard shots, and the bout was halted. Nwoba was declared the winner by TKO 4, and is now 7-0 (7).
In another close cruiserweight bout, Mohamed Abdufatou outscored Nehad Said by scores of 60-57, 60-57, 60-59. Abdufatou moved to 1-1 (0) after loosing his debut just two weeks ago at the same venue, and Said lost his second bout in as many outings. Welterweight prospect Tarek Ablazim kayoed Mohamed Abdu Rizk in the second, and is now 5-0 (3). Rizk dropped to 1-2 (0).