Written by Eric Armit
IT MAY have flown a bit under the radar, but Sulaiman Segawa pulled off a huge upset by scoring a unanimous decision against Ruben Villa in Las Vegas last weekend. The Ugandan won the battle of southpaws, using his long reach and high work rate.
He was feeding Villa with right jabs early on, and Villa was looking sluggish as Segawa landed his punches first and landed sharp combinations.
Villa was unlucky with his natural attacking style. He was often on the front foot, getting targeted by counters from Segawa but with little success.
Segawa was finding gaps in Villa's defense that he shouldn't have been. Villa increased his work rate, but Segawa was more accurate, always finding the target with straight lefts.
During the times they stood up and traded punches, Segawa threw more and landed more. Villa had a good four, landing hot uppercuts and twice rocking Segawa with rights.
Villa knocked out Segawa in the sixth, but that didn't change the course of the fight. Segawa again posted a career high in the seventh and surprisingly shut out the talented Villa, who was not shooting with his usual accuracy.
Segawa was working overtime with his right jab and using his power to push Villa when Villa went inside. Villa had severe bruising near his left eye.
Villa rocked Segawa with a right hook in the eighth, but Segawa then landed two hard lefts for Villa to drive home a series of body shots that slowed Segawa down.
Segawa took the ninth as Villa wasn't throwing enough punches and Segawa closed the round with consecutive punches.
Segawa used his jab to clinch the first round of ten, and Villa attacked hard in the second, but it was Segawa's round and Segawa's fight.
The scores came in 98-92, 97-93 and 96-94 for Segawa, who won the WBC Silver title. Villa was number 1 in the WBC, so this was a big win for Segawa and had a big impact on Villa.
Segawa had suffered a heavy defeat against the unbeaten Argentine Mirco Cuello over eight rounds in March, so he looked like a safe opponent for Villa. However, Villa could not cope with Segawa's high level of work and had a night to forget. It is Villa's second job to stumble after losing Emanuel Navarrete in 2020 (below).
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