by James Slater – An exciting British title fight took place last night in Essex, that will unfortunately be best remembered for the controversial official scoring that was handed in after 12 completed rounds. Mongolian-born southpaw Shinny Bayaar, the defending 32-year-old British 112-pound champion who now lives in Oldham, Lancashire, retained his belt against 22-year-old Ashley Sexton of Hertfordshire. After 12 eventful rounds the result was a draw that many people felt should have been a win for the older man..
Unbeaten challenger Sexton, 9-0(5) going in, said post-fight that he felt he’d done enough to have gotten the win, but this writer, for one, could not agree with him. The official scoring was 116-112 for Bayaar, the same for Sexton, and finally, 114-114. Bayaar is now 15-4-2(4).
The fight featured a number of accidental head-clashes, starting in the very first round. Southpaw Bayaar, who got the better of the opener, accidentally bashed Sexton’s nose with his skull, causing the challenger to bleed. The early rounds were all Bayaar, and his rights and lefts to the head appeared unable to miss at times. Sexton, who had promised to knock the champion out, was unable to get into a groove and the question was asked, had he taken this fight, with the more seasoned champion, too soon?
Pitching a virtual shutout over the first eight-rounds, Bayaar continued to land the cleaner, more eye-catching work. Then, knowing he had to do something dramatic to avoid picking up his first pro loss, puncher Sexton really went for it in the 9th-round.
Charging right at the champion and letting both hands fly as he did so, Sexton unfortunately also opened up a nasty cut above Byaar’s right eye with his head. The champion was immediately enraged, clearly thinking the butt had been intentional. As soon as referee Victor Loughlin had finished talking to both men, Sexton roared right back into Bayaar, pouring in the punches in a very exciting round.
The challenger continued his success in the final three rounds, refusing to let Bayaar get back to his previously successful game-plan. The fight had taken a big turn, and now it was the younger man who was on top – in a pretty big way considering how the Mongolian warrior was unable to see a number of the punches coming his way due to the blood that was pouring down his face.
Sexton took the final session, but once again a stray butt damaged Bayaar, as now his left eye was cut badly and leaking blood. Sexton was also landing some good punches upstairs; trying desperately to score a dramatic late KO. Bayaar instead held on, though he was busted up and swollen at the bell.
Then the scorecards were announced – scorecards that are sure to cause controversy for at least a little while. How one judge had Sexton a four-point winner I do not know. Still, having said that, a gracious Bayaar said post-fight that he was quite happy with the draw. Sexton said he felt he’d done enough. A rematch is almost sure to happen, though as promoter Frank Maloney said, the champion will need time for his cuts to heal.