oan Guzman versus Ali Funeka, as the co-main event to Lucien Bute versus Librado Andrade, may not have had the explosive finish of The Main Event; however, this fight definitely came to Quebec City, Canada packed with explosives... Following the fight in a bit of a wild press conference, many strong statements were made on both sides, including a few by Gary Shaw that may very well pave the way for not only a rematch of a great fight that unfortunately ended in a draw, but also for the Canadian Boxing commission to take a closer look at who mans their scorecards within the confines of Canada, or potentially face losing an appearance by Chad Dawson north of the world’s Boxing Capitol’s border! Here’s breakdown of what was Guzman Vs Funeka, and the bold statements made

Joan Guzman opened the fight pressing the action versus the giant Lightweight Ali Funeka, looking to land to the body early. Funeka on the flip side of the 1st round in an attempt to slow the pace a little; calmly stayed behind his very long jab, throwing occasional right hands.

Both boxers however, came out to fight right away in the 2nd round. The pace of the punches thrown did then settle down a bit, with both fighters continuing having their own dominant moments. Once again though, it was the much smaller Guzman, who was definitely still setting the pace.

Funeka not to be outdone; had the Quebec City crowd oohing and awing to start the third. Just over about a minute into the round, the intensity from both fighters actually sent both fighters crashing in a heap to the canvas following a collision. Shortly after, a right hand from Funeka shook Guzman, increasing the now ever present blood flow out of the nose of Joan Guzman.

The big man versus little man war continued on into the 4th, again with both boxers finding opportune angles and landing solid, clean shots. The round however was highlighted with Funeka slipping to the canvas, followed by an accidental head-butt that opened a nice gash over the inside of the right eyebrow of Guzman!

In the 5th round it was all tit-for-tat in the ring as the intensity continued to grow from both boxers, as the two combatants took turns landing absolute bombs. The Quebec crowd, over and over, cheered very loudly, showing their appreciation for the action taking place inside the ropes, in what was truly turning into a great fight!

The 6th round saw a slight change and became a more tactical round on both sides. That is, until the closing moments where once again these two fighters started just absolutely swinging for the fences!

Guzman stalked his taller foe in the early going of the 7th round. But Funeka, not looking to give up any free points, increased his own punch output as the round progressed, making for yet another great round of boxing.

Guzman’s pressure began to pay off early in the 8th. But it was Ali Funeka who came on strong and later wobbled Guzman with a very powerful shot to Joan Guzman’s body! Funeka followed up by then stunning Guzman with a beautiful straight right hand, capping off a phenomenal round for Funeka! Funeka really started taking advantage of his height and his reach in the 9th round; keeping his distance and landing very often. Guzman’s face was completely covered in blood, and one could very definitely see that the steam was leaving the engine of “Little Tyson”.

Funeka patiently continued to play the role of aggressor in the 10th round, while a still very bloodied; and extremely courageous Guzman absorbed the vast majority of the round’s punishment.

Funeka once again picked up where he left off, pressing his smaller adversary in the 11th round. But an unyielding Joan Guzman’s facial expressions directed at Ali Funeka, let everyone watching know, Guzman wasn’t going anywhere... And when Guzman began letting his hands fly once again, and again began landing solid shots of his own on Funeka, the French Canadian crowd in attendance went into an absolute frenzy!

A loud ovation from the fans in attendance kick started the final round of what was truly a phenomenal World Title scrap; and undoubtedly a candidate for best fight on Canadian soil in 2009! Both warriors let it all hang out, and completely emptied their gas tanks, and the crowd noise just continued to grow!

The draw decision was not well accepted in the Colisee Pepsi, as the crowd booed wildly at the official 114-114 scorecards from the Canadian judges. When asked if he won the fight while still inside the ring, Funeka responded simply with a “definitely” bringing a huge ovation from the crowd; who obviously saw the fight going in favour of Funeka as well. It was more of the same from the quiet and obviously very angered and upset judging by his face, Funeka, let his promoter Gary Shaw take the reins for him; Which actually proved to be a wise move in this case.

Previous to Shaw addressing the media, Joan Guzman had stated according to his translator that he felt he won the fight, and that he was ready to fight Pacquiao and Mayweather and that, “He’s never turned down a fight that was offered to him, he’s ready to fight at 140, and he wants to do that”.

Gary Shaw quickly changed the entire atmosphere in the press conference when he entered saying after the bout, “I have a lot of respect for Joan Guzman, I’ve known him a long time; he didn`t win this fight tonight. He shouldn’t talk about fighting Pacquiao or Mayweather he didn’t beat him. Ali was robbed. If I didn’t know better, if I wasn’t in the business of boxing this long, I’d think that the fix was in. There’s no one in Canada, and no one on the USA that didn’t that that Ali Funeka, won convincingly. The IBF tells me that the Canadian commission appointed the judges; the Canadian commission told me that the IBF appointed the judges. I’ve been around boxing a long time. I’m a good loser; if my fighter loses I accept it. I don’t want my fighter to lose the fight, and I don’t want my fighter to get robbed. There’s no way; I gave Guzman 4 rounds. I gave him 3 of the first 6; and I gave him the 7th round, personally. I don’t know what to say. It’s unfair for someone to come here from South Africa; or from anywhere in the world, and not get a fair decision. Dawson is the mandatory of the winner of Pascal versus Diacanu; and it makes me think twice about bringing Dawson to Canada, and that’s not good.

Because Quebec is a great city, Montreal is a great city, this arena was great, the Bell Centre is terrific, they’re all good people, your fans are terrific, but it has to be a fair decision, and tonight it wasn’t a fair decision. And this young man (Funeka) who fought his heart out; that should be going back to South Africa with the IBF belt, is not, and that’s wrong! As I said, I have a lot of respect for Guzman; I’ve known him personally for a long, long time, I know his team, but they did not win tonight.”

Guzman’s tone then completely changed when addressed by the Canadian media after Shaw’s comments, and Guzman shared with the media through a translator that his corner actually threatened to stop the fight. “In the beginning of the fight, he was doing all that he could in the fight; and he was winning. Once he got punched in the nose and started bleeding, and then he got it with the head-butt that caused him not to be able to see. So it’s wasn`t so much that he thinks Funeka won the fight, and he totally respects his opinion, and Gary Shaw saying that he won; but it was his(Guzman`s) inability that allowed him to slow down a bit. But at the end he was just fighting with his heart, and putting his heart out there, and that`s how he was able to get through... His managers, and his current promoters at Golden Boy, were telling him that they were going to give him one more round, and then they were going to stop the fight, but he said no, he was going to finish it off, and he went in there as a true warrior and ended the fight after 12 rounds.”

Regardless of the language barrier, all calls for the top P4P fighters in the world were suddenly quieted from the mouth of Joan Guzman, and the reality of a potential second fight to finally decide a winner of the IBF lightweight strap, became much more apparent for both the fighters; and the fans still present! Guzman and Funeka then proceeded to share a few laughs and a few poses for the waiting camera’s, with both men obviously not blaming the other for the disputable decision.

If you wish to contact the author of this article, email John Robbins at FightNews Canada