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.

Yan Zak and Abdul Ubaya Weigh In

Yan Zak and Abdul Ubaya weighed in ahead of their cruiserweight clash tomorrow at the Round 10 Boxing Club in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Zak came in at a fit 189.6 pounds. The 25 year old is 4-0 with 3 KOs. His previous lightest was 198.5 pounds.

Ubaya weighed in at 184.1 pounds. This is the heaviest of the 29 year old's career. His previous high was 175.3 pounds in September.

Zak's size advantage could play a role in tomorrow's bout. Ubaya is a tricky, powerful opponent, but he is coming up in weight. He's the toughest opponent Zak has yet faced, but the Israeli has shown great skills and power during his amateur career and over the course of his first four pro fights.

For a preview of the fight, click here.

Yan Zak to Face Abdul Ubaya

Cruiserweight Yan Zak faces Abdul Ubaya on Saturday at the Round 10 Boxing Club in  Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Zak was originally scheduled to face Dickson Mwakisopile. Zak's team was initially told Mwakisopile had died in a motorcycle accident, but it turned out he had simply suffered a standard cut over his left eye. Ubaya, who comes in on about two weeks' notice, is a tougher opponent than Mwakisopile.

A 25 year old, Zak is 4-0 with 3 KOs. He has been roughing up experienced journeyman thus far in his career. Ubaya is a 29 year old from Kibaha, Tanzania. Kibaha is just outside Dar es Salaam where many of Ubaya's fights have taken place. The upset-minded Ubaya has also won in Thailand and Russia, and lost by split decision in England.

Ubaya's best punch is a chopping right. He has a decent jab and a solid left hook. He's most effective throwing combinations off the jab, but he can be wild and is susceptible to counter rights and crisp jabs. Oluwatosin Kejawa snapped back Ubaya's head numerous times with his quality jab in their 2023 fight. Ubaya also uses tricky upper body movement and throws punches from odd angles to great effect.

BoxRec lists Ubaya as 10-4 with 6 KOs, but he is more experienced than that. Fights in 2020 against Richard Mazule, Michael Kalyalya, Zuber Karemba have not been included on his BoxRec ledger.

Ubaya took a disputed decision loss to Pius Mpenda in 2021. Mpenda has since been a challenging opponent for some very good fighters. Ubaya traveled to Thailand in 2023 and upset Davrobek Kurbonov, who faded down the stretch. For that win, Ubaya was awarded the WBC Asian title because it's apparently outside the World Boxing Council's purview to know that Tanzania isn't in Asia. After the split decision loss to Kejawa in England, Ubaya dominated Ibragim Estemirov in Russia last year. He then was stopped by Pawel Sosulin.

This year, Abdul beat up an out-of-shape Godfrey Paulo Kamala and had more wrinkles in his game than Stephen Nyamhanga. He will be a tough opponent for Zak. Ubaya's biggest drawback is his size. He has fought as heavy as light heavyweight, but it's a big jump up to cruiserweight. Zak needs to be careful, but his size, speed, and boxing ability should allow him to take the fight.

Zak-Ubaya is scheduled for eight rounds.

Lev Jackson Wins by Stoppage

Fighting in Jamay, Jalisco, Mexico, Lev Jackson by second round retirement. His opponent refused to come out for the third round.

Jackson is a 33 year old from Vancouver, British Colombia, Canada. The southpaw is now 5-1-1 with 3 KOs. This was his second fight this year.

More details to come...