The Paper's reporter Chen Jun
Xu Can in the game.
In the early morning of August 1, China's only active world boxing champion Xu Can lost his golden belt in his third personal defense match, when he was challenged by British boxer Leigh Wood TKO in 12 rounds.
Looking at the whole game, Xu Can, who has not played for 20 months and played away from home, is not in the best state, and is in a more obvious backward position before being TKO.
But this defeat is not the end, I believe that the 27-year-old Xu Can will definitely make a comeback.
Ko for the first time
The match was held in Brentwood, England, 5 days ago Xu Can just flew from the United States to the matching place, and British boxer Leigh Wood waited for work.
At the beginning of the game, Lee Wood showed a slippery side, maintaining a safe distance from Xu Can and taking cuddles as soon as he approached. As the game progressed, Leigh Wood gradually stepped up his attack, and his belly-punching and head-to-head hooks began to work.
In terms of perception, the strength of this player is far stronger than Xu Can's opponent who defended his title twice.
In the face of severe tests, Xu Can tried to maintain the same oppressive play style as in the past, but it was difficult to catch the opponent, and the rhythm's incompatibility made the continuous output he was famous for disappear.
After entering the second half of the game, Lee Wood became more and more confident, measuring the distance by pressing his forehand against Xu Can's head and hitting him hard with his backhand. In this process, Xu Can also had many opportunities to exchange punches with his opponents, but the lack of strength of a single punch seemed to be difficult to shake Li Wood.
In the 12th round, it was during a change of punches that Lei Wood accurately hit Xu Can in the head, causing Xu Can to fall to the ground - slow motion showed that Xu Can also hit the opponent, the problem was that the part of the blow was biased and the effect was not good.
After experiencing this fall, Xu Can quickly got up, but could not stop Lee Wood's pursuit, and in a round of combination punch attacks, Xu Can could only stubbornly hold the defense, during which he did not punch back.
Seeing that the scene was one-sided, the referee on duty, McDonald, terminated the game...
Xu Can prepares for the game.
The opponent's tactics are on the right track
This is the first time Xu Can has been KO in his career. Judging from the course of the game alone, Xu Can lost unjustly.
All three scoring referees in the first 11 rounds of TKO gave Lee Wood the lead, with one referee hitting 106-103 and the other two hitting 107-102.
Implemented into the technical statistics of both sides, Leigh Wood made a total of 935 to 897 and hit 222 to 208; including heavy punches 477 to 520, hitting 190 to 136; stabbing 458 to 377, hitting 32 to 72.
Obviously, Xu Can's heavy punches are many, but it is difficult to hit effectively, and the stinging boxing is less than usual, and the lethality is limited in the case of hitting higher than the opponent.
It was heart-wrenching to lose the golden belt in such a way, but what could not be avoided was that Xu Can really did not play at the level he deserved.
Lee Wood said after the game, "Xu Can is the strongest opponent I have ever met, but I have carried out the coach's tactical intentions well in the game. ”
The challenger suppressed Xu Can's characteristics through targeted tactics on one side, and on the other hand, Xu Can's lack of vitality and poor state was also an important reason.
That has something to do with his 20-month absence, bearing in mind that Leigh Wood already had a record earlier this year.
Xu Can will make a comeback.
"To lose is to lose"
But what is touching is that Xu Can did not make excuses for failure.
After the game, he said bluntly: "To lose is to lose, there is no need to make such an excuse." (No game for a long time) is a kind of suffering, but I think it has little impact on today's game, or my own problem. ”
Being able to face up to failure with such a mentality, we believe that Xu Can will definitely kill back.
Xu Can will then return to China and go through six months of overseas training, and China's best boxer will need to go through a period of rest and adjustment.
Considering his good strength at this level, it is a high probability that he will once again challenge the golden belt of the boxer in the near future.
Editor-in-Charge: Ascendas