Ian Napa lost his European bantamweight title as he was comprehensively beaten on points by Frenchman Malik Bouziane.
Londoner loses title but insists he will carry on fighting
Ian Napa's reign as European bantamweight champion came to a sorry end as he was comprehensively beaten on points by Malik Bouziane.
The Frenchman dominated from start to finish at Newham Leisure Centre to take the title in just his 11th fight as a professional.
Londoner Napa had spoken in the build-up to his first defence about the bout being a stepping stone to getting a world title shot.
However, by the conclusion of the 12 rounds he had no complaints about being on the wrong end of a unanimous decision.
Convincing margin
Although one judge scored it 115-113, his two fellow officials gave it to Bouziane by a rather more convincing margins of 118-110 and 117-111.
The 31-year-old from Massy, which is just outside of Paris, made full use of his extra height and reach to build a massive lead by the midway point.
Although Napa did step up his efforts in the second half he simply found no way to get in close enough to trouble the tricky challenger.
"The guy pick-pocketed the fight, he did what he had to do," Napa told
Sky Sports.
"I think I was too intent on going to the body more than boxing. I felt relly good in the gym but I think I might have over-trained.
"But there's no excuses. He won the fight fair and square. I thought he'd slow down but he never did."
Bounce back
Despite the defeat, Napa insists he will bounce back - something he has done before during his up-and-down career.
'Dappa' suffered three defeats in the space of four fights at one stage before going on a fairytale run that included claiming the British and European straps.
When asked if he could return after the defeat, he added: "Oh yes, certainly. I got beaten by a guy that had a better style on the day."
