Yan Zak Wins Tough Fight

Yan Zak defeated Abdul Ubaya in a rough fight today at the Round 10 Boxing Club in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Zak scored three knockdowns, but ate some big shots for his trouble.

Under a giant portrait of Diego Corrales's battle against Jose Luis Castillo, Zak started the fight by introducing his left Reyes glove to Ubaya's face. He soon added the straight right off his jab. During an exchange, Zak scored a knockdown with a short right counter. The 25 year old from Ashdod, Israel became so confident by the end of the opening stanza that he kept his hands down and peppered his Tanzanian opponent with jabs, straight rights, and a right uppercut.

To start the second, Zak pawed with his jab but had trouble finding the target due to Ubaya's slipperiness. Midway through the round, Ubaya opened up with wild combinations, a couple of which hit Zak behind the head. Zak scored another knockdown with a left counter. The 25 year old spent the third round controlling center ring. He threw a right to initiate a pull counter as part of his boxing clinic. Ubaya lunged with his shots too much.

Ubaya started the fourth more effectively with his jab. Defensively, he dipped to his right, so Zak connected with a chopping right. Some more chopping rights followed. A short counter scored a third knockdown of the fight. To Ubaya's credit, the 29 year old climbed off the canvas for the third time and finished the fourth round strong. Zak won the quite moments with his jab in the fifth, but Ubaya won the loud moments with a sweeping left and a subsequent combination.

Ubaya took off the sixth round as Zak controlled the action. Hopelessly behind, Ubaya spent the final two rounds trying to win. He landed some good body shots and used aggression to force Zak to retreat at times. Towards the end of the eighth rough, Ubaya went for broke. He showed courage and stamina in the closing rounds. Zak's offense was solid, but he appeared to fade a bit down the stretch in his first eight-rounder.

As the scores were tabulated, the crowd chanted "Abdul, Abdul!" Yan Zak was declared the winner. The Jewish Boxing Blog scored the fight 77-72 for Zak. The cruierweight prospect is now 5-0 with 3 KOs. BoxRec has Ubaya at 10-5 with 6 KOs, but he has at least three more victories than that.