Rhythm is everything in boxing. Every move you make starts with your skills and training, and if you fight on emotion… you're in trouble. Fijian Australian Sunny Raitava is a gifted and highly skilled boxer who successfully defended his WBF Amateur Masters World Heavyweight Title against a relentless and rugged opponent in Chris Smith on the 22nd April 2023 on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia.
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A gruelling back and forth bout that held the capacity crowd in its grip, who witnessed a very tactical and gutsy performance demonstrated by both boxers. Smith started fast and pressured the defending Champ from the outset. After the first round where both fighters sought to find their range, the challenger began to open up with power punches in the second with quite a few crisp hooks getting around Raitava’s high guard. But nothing seemed to hurt the Champ as he remained composed and continued to box coming forward.
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Raitava’s work rate remained consistent as he looked for the perfect punch. But that allowed Smith to work his way through the battle in the middle rounds. Eventually, Smith started feeling comfortable and that's exactly what the Champ wanted, landing a telling blow to clearly affect his willing challenger in the last seconds of round number four.
To the gutsy challenger's credit, he came out in round 5 seemingly recovered but cautious of Raitava’s power and continued to box competitively. The defending Champ had now found his confidence and fired off hooks and jabs with far more frequency.
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With Smith pressing again to start the final round, Raitava started moving forward and barely misses a ramrod straight left hand. At the sound of the bell ending the 6th and final round, the vocal crowd stood in applause and appreciation for both warriors in what was an extremely competitive and skilful bout.
To the judge’s score cards…… A points decision win and still WBF (AMD) World Heavyweight Champion – Sunny Raitava. Sunny has now been invited to defend his title in arguably the world’s mecca of boxing - Las Vegas, Nevada USA in April of 2024.
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Sunny reflected after his successful defense - “the same hand that can write a beautiful poem, can knock you out with one punch”
Congratulations Sunny Raitava on the successful defense of your WBF (AMD) World Heavyweight Crown and also a very big congratulations to WBF Amateur Masters Division Vice President Mr. Kim Gray and his loyal and devoted team from Undisputed Promotions for continuing to showcase and promote WBF International Amateur Masters Boxing.
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