Sadam survives Barclays debut

Ali gets off mat to score two knockdowns en route to win over Krupp

October 1, 2013 By John Torenli, Sports Editor Brooklyn Daily Eagle

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Following the first two rounds of his Golden Boy Promotions debut at Barclays Center on Monday night before a crowd of better than 3,000 in the state-of-the-art arena’s Cushman and Wakefield Theater, Sadam “World” Kid Ali looked more like a pretender than a serious up-and-coming contender.

In fact, the Brooklyn native and first Arab-American ever to fight for Team USA in the Olympics had already been floored at the end of the first round and was out-punched in close quarters by journeyman Jay Krupp for the better part of the second stanza.

Sitting on his stool prior to Round 3, Ali appeared a bit overwhelmed by the dizzying experience of headlining his first nationally televised fight card in our borough’s new home for world championship boxing.

He also had some serious swelling under his left eye, compliments of the big shots he’d taken from Krupp in what was supposed to be a quick and easy victory in his debut for his new promotional team.

Though the fans in attendance were clearly on his side, chanting “Ali!, Ali” throughout the scheduled eight-round affair, the 25-year-old was unable to deliver an early knockout of Krupp, who had been beaten five times in his first 22 pro bouts.

The previously unbeaten Ali suddenly knew he had more than just six rounds of furious boxing in front of him. He also had his unblemished record and reputation as a budding title-worthy pugilist to protect.

To his credit, Ali didn’t blink at the pressure of rising to the occasion after a nearly disastrous start. He delivered a stunning right-left combination to knock down Krupp in the third round and out-boxed him for the remainder of the fight before landing a dramatic short right hand to floor his game opponent yet again with just 20 seconds remaining before the final bell.

“I knew he was going to come to fight,” Ali admitted after receiving the much-needed unanimous decision win on his home turf. “I haven’t fought in almost a year, so I knew I was rusty.”

That rust proved nearly calamitous for the evening’s main attraction as he caught a vicious, looping left hook from Krupp just before the end of Round One, sending him sprawling to the canvas. The thunderous blow brought a shocked grimace to Ali’s face as he went back to his corner following the bell.

“When I went down, I wasn’t hurt,” noted Ali, who hadn’t been in the ring since scoring a technical knockout of Ronnie Warrior Jr., at Brooklyn’s Aviator Sports Complex last October. “It proves I can take a punch.”

He took several more big blows as the night wore on, but found his groove with a consistent left jab and occasional flashes of blistering combinations against the Catskills-trained fighter who wasn’t interested in making a hasty exit from the main event of the FoxSports 1-televised Monday Night card.

Ali went on to win Rounds 4, 5, 6 and 7, though less-than-handily, and punctuated the victory with his big knockdown as the clock wound down in Round 8.

Though Krupp’s handlers quickly raised him up in triumph after the fighter’s exchanged their customary hugs, Ali had no doubt he’d improved to 17-0 for his career.

“I don’t know how [Krupp] thought he won. I knocked him down twice,” Ali intimated.

Though it certainly was far from the debut he wanted or anticipated, Ali did earn a measure of ring respect by rising from the deck to take down his opponent twice.

He also proved he could recover from a poor start, one that nearly cost him any shot at rising quickly in the Golden Boy ranks and potentially earning a co-feature slot on a future Barclays Center card.

“I just need to focus, not get rusty and do it for the fans,” Ali confessed before exiting the ring.

In the first of the night’s two co-features, Staten Island’s Marcus Browne (7-0, 6 KOs), also a former Olympian, earned a tough eight-round decision over Lamont Williams (5-2-1) in an ugly bout that featured plenty of head-butting, grabbing and posturing.

Browne, who had knocked out his previous six opponents, settled for a unanimous decision victory against the cagey and hard-to-handle Williams, who was a late fill-in for the opening bout of the televised portion of the card.

“It’s OK that I didn’t knock him out,” said Browne, who fought at Barclays for the fourth time since the arena opened last year — the most appearances by any fighter on the corners of Atlantic and Flatbush Avenues.

“You can’t knock everybody out,” he added. “It was definitely dirtier than my other fights. I’ve got to look a lot stronger next time.”

Newark’s Michael “The Artist” Perez out-pointed Miguel Zuniga in a 10-rounder for the vacant WBA Fedelatin Super Lightweight Title in the main co-feature, getting the unanimous decision despite suffering a nasty cut under his left eye during the bout.

Brooklyn’s Claude Staten Jr. was unimpressive in fighting to a majority draw against Philadelphia’s Derrick Bivins in just his second pro bout.

Ring Notes: Unbeaten light welterweight champion Danny Garcia, who has already headlined and emerged victorious in two fight nights at Barclays, was in Brooklyn before Monday night’s bouts for a media roundtable. Fresh off his impressive win over Lucas Matthysse last month in Las Vegas on the undercard of Floyd Mayweather’s fight with Canelo Alvarez, Garcia and his father-trainer Angel Garcia, are rumored to be in line for a potential matchup with Mayweather. “That means a lot,” Garcia said of being mentioned as a future opponent for the undisputed best pound-for-pound fighter in the world. “Floyd’s been a champion for 17 years. I’ve been a champion for two years. Obviously, that would be a great opportunity.” … Brooklyn’s-own Paulie Malignaggi worked the telecast as an analyst for Fox Sports 1. He fills a similar role with SHOWTIME.