Bobby Benton has seen a few dramatic finishes.
Trainer Benton was the lead voice in the corner of WBC super featherweight O’Shaquie Foster, as the duo picked up a split-decision over the northeastern based Abraham Nova.
The bout was close. Foster seemed to land the cleaner punches, Nova was busier.
CompuBox stats said the same. Foster landed 139 punches out of 429. Nova landed 122 out of 701. Foster had a 32.4 per cent connect rate whereas Nova had a 17.4 per cent.
“I knew that was going to be the best Nova we ever saw, and I knew he was going to fight like hell,” Benton said. “They did a great job, good job on the corner. After the 11th round, kicking the water bottle over like that was really smart, because he was hurt pretty bad.
“They bought some time and recovered, and Nova was in the best shape of his life. I didn’t expect anything less than that [his best] from Nova.”
Prizefighter Mark DeLuca was the lead voice in Nova’s career. Best known for a loss to Kell Brook, DeLuca was an accomplished fighter in his own right, but also someone who has been around Nova for years. Benton spoke highly of DeLuca and his fight game intelligence.
“He is a good trainer,” Benton added. “He is a smart trainer. I would’ve done the same thing, I have done it before. When a guy is hurt, you just try to let them recover. That’s a good team player.
Benton concluded: “For me, ‘Shock’ did what he always does, he finds a way to get the win. I told him in the 11th round, we need to put him on his ass. He did, and it just shows how good [Foster] is overall.”
Foster is now 22-2, 12 KOs. Nova dropped to 23-2, 16 KOs.