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Beckley, West Virginia´s Bobby
Thomas Jr. is the new World
Boxing Federation (WBF) North
American Cruiserweight Champion,
after winning the vacant title
on Saturday night, March 29, in
front of a loud and enthusiastic
crowd at the Beckley Convention
Center.
Thomas took on Eric Watkins from
Morgantown, W. V., who stepped
in at two weeks’ notice when
original foe Warren Browning was
pulled out due to illness, and
was in with a game and gutsy
opponent who didn’t just show up
for a pay-day.
Watkins gave Thomas all he could
handle during the ten rounds of
action-packed boxing, and both
fighters had their moments where
it looked like one or the other
was about to take over. It was a
very entertaining bout, and
after the final bell both felt
they had done enough to win, but
none of them could be sure.
It came down to a split
decision, with two of the judges
scoring the fight 97-92 for
Thomas, while the third had
Watkins winning by 95-94. The
new WBF Champion improved his
professional record to 14-2-1
(9), and Watkins falls to 10-7-1
(5).
Thomas had proclaimed before the
fight that he was aiming for a
clean knockout of Watkins, but
after the tough encounter he
seemed relieved to just get the
victory. Watkins did himself
proud, and proved himself a much
better boxer than his mediocre
record indicates.
The fight was promoted by Jerry
Thomas and his West Virginia
Sports Promotions.
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