Mor Oknin's Fight Apparently Canceled

Larry Merchant once described boxing as "the theater of the unexpected." Sometimes it's more like the theater of the absurd.

Mor Oknin was scheduled to fight Sunday night at the Ciudad Deportiva Carmen Serdán in Mexico City, Mexico. He had flown all the way from Israel a couple of days ago to fight an opponent who reportedly didn’t show up for the weigh-in. The fight was apparently canceled.

The event promoted by TT Promotions was streamed on Vamos Deportes Boxeo's YouTube channel. Almost two hours into the show, a strange thing occurred. Oknin got into the ring wearing a white robe with a blue Star of David and his customary number 26, also in blue. Tzitzit hung down from the robe. On the back read his surname along with his nickname "The Son of the Lion" and a larger Star of David. His trunks were also white and donned the small blue six-pointed star and his number on the back. His red Reyes gloves jabbed at shadows as he waited for the announcer to introduce him.

The ring announcer declared Rafael "El Leon" Oknin of Israel the winner by technical knockout. The referee raised Oknin's hand as he rapped along with with Ness & Stilla's controversial song Harbu Darbu that blared from the speakers. He took bows in the ring and fist bumped the announcer and the two ring card girls before exiting. But there had been no opponent and no fight.

Before Sunday night, Oknin contended that his professional record is 3-0. BoxRec says it's 1-1. He won his first bout by KO when his opponent injured his hand in 2021. The following year, Oknin undoubtedly fought in February in Mexico. The result is a matter of contention. The commission told BoxRec, Oknin lost by TKO. Oknin claims he won by TKO. BoxRec admits that commissions, particularly in Mexico, sometimes feed the site false results.

Last September, Oknin won when his opponent retired in the corner after the second round. Yet, his fight is not listed on BoxRec. The rest of the event is on the site, although it is listed as taking place on the Tuesday, September 5 when it actually took place on Sunday, September 3.

All that is to say, Mor Oknin is intimately aware of boxing's absurdity.

Benny Nizard Wins Pro Debut

Junior middleweight Benny Nizard won his pro debut by unanimous decision against Avend Yassin at Palais des sports Marcel Cerdan in Levallois-Perret, France. The former French amateur champion displayed impressive ability during his first fight.

Nizard, a southpaw from Paris, slid through the ropes to wild applause. When the bell rang, Yassin, a 33 year old from Ploufragan, started the fight as a southpaw. Nizard flicked a jab for show and smacked an overhand left against Yassin's cheek just as the contest commenced. Yassin quickly turned orthodox and remained that way for the rest of the bout.

Amid raucous chants of "Nizard! Nizard!" Benny continued to use his jab as a distraction in order to land straight, overhand, and looping lefts. When Yassin got too close for comfort on one occasion, Nizard shouldered him to the canvas. Benny slipped one shot and came back with an intelligent left to the body. He later landed a stunning combination while Yassin was trapped in the corner. He finished the round with two lefts, turning with Yassin as the latter tried to get out of dodge.

It was a brilliant opening round of his career.

The pace slowed a bit in the second. With thirty seconds left in the round, the two fighters exchanged shots with Benny getting the better of it. Nizard had the faster hands and threw his punches with more conviction, which convinced Yassin to avoid a firefight and keep his hands home.

Nizard introduced his right hook in the third round. Yassin was trapped in the corner when a big overhand left crashed into face. The skilled Parisian finished one combination with a left to the body, later landed a check right hook and quickly got out of harm's way, and finished the round alternating between the head and body with that back hand.

The beginning of the fourth round looked like much of the same. Nizard snapped back Yassin's head early and then touched him with lefts up and down to set up his right hook. But Yassin not only showed courage and toughness, he refused to quit. A hard right to Benny's body encouraged Avend to press forward with a body attack. Nizard ended the fight strong though. He connected with a short counter left and finished with a harmless jab that set up a damaging straight left.

Nizard has clearly been taught well by trainer Mike Cohen. Benny disguised his offense with deceptive upper body movement and has a creative variety of combinations for such a young fighter. Defensively, he kept his head off the line effectively. But it's important to keep expectations reasonable and give Benny time to develop.

At times he lunged in when throwing his left from the outside and was slow to bring that hand back after launching it. Against a better opponent, the southpaw would be susceptible to the counter right. Beginning midway through the third round, he kept his hands down in spots because he felt confident of victory, but perhaps he should have kept his foot on the accelerator .

Any minor criticism aside, it was a magnificent debut. The Jewish Boxing Blog scored the fight the same as all three judges, 40-36 for Nizard, who weighed 159 pounds. He's now 1-0. Yassin, who was 153.5, falls to 1-1-1.

Nizard (left) and Yassin

Joshua Feldman Wins by TKO

Joshua Feldman made short work of Sibusiso "The Killer" Muteleni today at Box Camp Booysens in Johannesburg, South Africa. Feldman scored the stoppage victory a minute and 26 seconds into the second round.

Muteleni weighed in at just 140.3 pounds for the junior middleweight contest. At the weigh-in, he indicated that he didn't want to fight, but his coaches convinced him to through with the contest. Muteleni was forced to gain four pounds yesterday and weigh in again before the fight was allowed to proceed.

To Muteleni's credit, he got into the ring and though he was mostly in survival mode, he connected with a few counter rights. But they had no effect on Feldman. From the outset, the 19 year old southpaw from Cape Town went after Muteleni. He craved a knockout and mostly threw whipping right hooks and pinpoint straight lefts.

Feldman treated Muteleni's power with zero respect, walking towards his lighter foe with impunity. During the second round, Feldman landed with yet another right hook and Muteleni fell back into the corner. Feldman caught him with an uppercut before Muteleni crumpled to the canvas. He rose nine and a half seconds after falling. Referee Riaan Van Rensburg saw Muteleni did not want to continue and wisely waved off the fight.

In the build up, Feldman pleaded with Muteleni to bring his "A" game. Instead, Sibusiso should pick a new game or at least a new nickname, as he posed virtually no threat. In addition, coming in so drastically underweight was unprofessional. While the fight didn't help the skilled Feldman much, he did sit down on his punches at times, which was something he had been working on in camp. It paid off with his first knockout. He's now 3-0. Muteleni falls to 0-2.

courtesy of Boxing5's IG page