LAS VEGAS -- Roman Karmazin started quickly, knocking down champion Kassim Ouma twice in the third round and then winning a unanimous 12-round decision Thursday night for the IBF junior middleweight title.    

 

Karmazin used his superior reach and a sharp right hand to keep Ouma off-balance for much of the fight. Although Ouma rallied in the middle rounds, Karmazin took control again late.

It was the 34th victory in 36 fights for the Russian, who lost in his only previous world championship bout, to Spain's Javier Castillejo in June 2002. This never was close after his great start, and he easily swept the judges cards: 118-108, 116-110 and 117-109.

"I told everyone that he was a good fighter, but not a superstar," Karmazin said of Ouma.

Karmazin, 32, wasn't bothered by the left-handed Ouma's attempts to get in close. Indeed, Ouma was the one throwing looping punches for much of the bout, unable to penetrate the Russian's defense.

Ouma, 26, of Uganda, barely got off a punch in the first two rounds, and then he was almost knocked out in the third. Kamarzin threw a wicked kidney punch early in the round just as Ouma turned sideways, enhancing the impact and sending the champion to the canvas. He was up quickly, but was headed for more punishment.

A series of punches put Ouma near the ropes and Karmazin landed a crisp right lead to the head, sending Ouma down again.

But when Kamarzin, 153½ pounds, tried to finish his opponent, he tired instead as Ouma covered up and survived.

Kamarzin lost some impetus after that, but not enough to lose the fight. And he really came on again in the last three rounds, prompting cheers and chanting from his Russian comrades in the crowd at The Orleans Arena.

"My prior fight with Keith Holmes was a much tougher fight," Karmazin said of a majority decision win in April. "He (Ouma) was a tough fighter, lots of stamina, but not as good as I was.

"If he wants a rematch, we will definitely talk."

Ouma, whose inspirational story includes being kidnapped by the National Resistance Army in Uganda when he was 7 and being forced to fight in the civil war, won the crown last October with a unanimous decision over Verno Phillips. His other defense was a unanimous decision against Kofi Jantuah in January.

Ouma, who weighed 154 pounds, is 21-2-1.

AP NEWS

The Associated Press News Service