Jason DeCrow/AP[/caption]Devon Alexander of St. Louis didn’t have much of a problem with 38-year-old slugger Randall Bailey on Oct. 20 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York and took away his world title with a unanimous 12-round decision.
The 25-year-old is now the new IBF Welterweight Champion after winning by scores of 115-111, 116-110, and 117-109. Alexander stayed away from Bailey’s impressive power and the fight turned out to be quite non eventful with the crowd booing on occasion.
There were some punches thrown and landed though, with Alexander throwing 534 of them and landing 120 while Bailey threw just 198 and landed a paltry 45.
The 45 punches landed by Bailey are reportedly the fewest ever in a 12-round bout in the last 27 years since punch statistics have been recorded. Oddly enough, he landed 23 per cent of his shots while Alexander landed at a rate of just 22 per cent.
Bailey, who fights out of Miami, Florida, said Alexander was fast and young and moved around the ring a lot better than he thought he could. He said he couldn’t catch up with him and land any power shots. Alexander stated that he could have fought better, but knew he had to stay out of range of Bailey’s powerful right hand.
He did manage to land a few right hands, but Alexander handled them well other than one occasion in the fifth round when he was wobbled. Alexander then came back swinging and it resulted in some of the best action in the otherwise dull bout.
There was often more grabbing and holding going on in the ring than punching, and referee Arthur Mercante Jr. deducted a point from both boxers in the sixth round for holding. The bout was originally scheduled to take place back on September 8; however Bailey had to pull out of it due to a back injury that he sustained in training.
It was Alexander’s second fight in the welterweight division and he now becomes a two-division champion as he was formerly the Junior Welterweight Champion. With the win he raises his pro record to 24-1 with 13 KOS.
Bailey, who is also a former Junior Welterweight Champion, sees his record drop to 43-8 with 37 KOS. He said after the bout that he’s going to decide about his boxing future soon, but in his heart he wants to keep on fighting.
The bout was a part of a massive boxing card at the new Barclays Center in Brooklyn and was televised across the nation along with four other bouts by Showtime. It was Bailey’s first defense of the title which he won in June.
He knocked Mike Jones out in that bout in the 11th round after trailing on all three scorecards. However, he just couldn’t land the big bomb needed to do the same to Alexander. The new champion has now won three fights in a row after losing his junior welterweight title to Timothy Bradley in January of 2011.
