Lightweight Tsendbaatar Erdenebat is a lightweight to watch.
Erdenebat (9-0, 4 KOs), a 2016 Mongolian Olympian, won an eight-round unanimous decision over Mohamed Soumaoro (14-3, 6 KOs) in an eight-round bout Wednesday at the ProBox TV Events Center in Plant City, Florida.
The judges saw the bout 79-73, 80-72, and 80-72 for Erdenebat.
The first round was slow. Erdenebat was able to display his trademark technique to the body early on. Soumaoro, known for coming forward, did just that and was more successful in the second round, landing an uppercut for the most notable punch of the round.
Soumaoro continued to maul, landing straight right hands in the third, as Erdenebat appeared too comfortable allowing him inside. Slowly, Erdenebat began to shift the fight in his favor, landing more clean shots as the action wore on.
Soumaoro was undeterred coming forward, though his strategy yielded mixed results in the second half of the fight. But in a battle of wills, Erdenebat gradually gained the upper hand and, by the end of the fourth, had taken over.
Erdenebat controlled the bout on his terms, finding his timing and outboxing Soumaoro. At the end of the fifth, he hurt Saoumaoro to the head and the body, visibly rattling him. Soumaoro’s toughness was on full display, but whatever mental and physical pressure he could muster wasn’t enough to best Erdenebat’s skill and calm.
Both fighters got something from the fight. For Erdenebat, 27, it was experience. Soumaoro, for his part, proved himself to be a hard-edged veteran who wouldn’t be taken out easily.
The bout opened the ProBox TV telecast headlined by Justin Pauldo versus Miguel Maduneo.