Odelia Ben Ephraim dominated Sarah Kaddour at Gymnase Jean Jaures in Cherbourg, France today. Yet, two judges inexplicably called the fight even. Earlier this week, The Jewish Boxing Blog prophesied, "As the opponent, Odelia will need to win in convincing fashion." She did just that and the judges still saddled her with a majority draw.
Kaddour, a 30 year old, began each round firing combinations at her 26 year old opponent. However, most of her wide shots were blocked or slipped. Ben Ephraim stalked, wearing down Kaddour with pressure. In the first, Odelia landed a couple of hard looping rights after setting them up by dipping her left shoulder. While Kaddour attacked without much forethought, Ben Ephraim showed her class by feinting, setting up her power shots, and exhibiting impressive accuracy.
Ben Ephraim completely controlled the second round. At one point, Kaddour switched to southpaw in desperation. Later, she was caught in the corner and ate a barrage of punches. The third wasn't any better for Kaddour, who was exhausted by the end of the round. Odelia cut off the ring beautifully and picked her punches like the artist that she is.
To her credit, Kaddour never gave up and displayed a warrior's heart. She showed flashes of skill, particularly during the second half of the fight. The former kickboxing champion boxed well in the round, landing her jab and a nice right uppercut. Ben Ephraim's corner had delayed the opening of the fourth after forgetting to stick in her mouthpiece, just when Kaddour was very tired. But Odelia finished the fourth strong, battering her opponent to take another round.
Kaddour connected with some sneaky rights in the fifth, but she ate a lot of left hooks. Midway through the round, she vacillated between running and flinging wild combinations that missed their mark.
The sixth and final round proved to be Kaddour's best. She mucked up the fight by holding. Ben Ephraim landed some quality one-twos, but Kaddour showed a good right uppercut.
The Jewish Boxing Blog scored the fight 59-55 for Ben Ephraim. The announcers seemed to concur. Yet the judges showed utter incompetence or worse in their scorecards. One read 59-55, but the announcer didn't pin it to either fighter. Thankfully, it turned out to be for Ben Ephraim. The other two judges, Eric Butel and Frederic Arnaud, committed larceny, scoring the fight 57 apiece. To give the judges the benefit of the doubt, Kaddour's hands were very active. They just weren't nearly as effective as Ben Ephraim's precise punches.
This fight was a masterclass for Ben Ephraim, but unfortunately boxing can be a dirty game. Her record is 5-6-1. Kaddour is 1-1-1.
