Nwokolo, Worthington UBO Champions At Muhammad Ali Center

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JANUARY 21, 2024 / BY BY UBO PRESS OFFICER

In what was the first ever boxing show staged at the museum dedicated to “The Greatest”, Emeka Nwokolo and Samantha Worthington came out on top after excellent fights promoted by Lee Kiper and his Dreams Realized Promotions.

Nwokolo, originally from Nigeria but fighting out of Los Angeles, became the UBO International Super Welterweight champion defeating Albuquerque´s Clinton Chavez by fifth round stoppage.

Chavez came out throwing, and landing, bombs and clearly wanted the fight to be a war, while Nwokolo had a more tactical approach of boxing and breaking his foe down.

It was an excellent fight, and the crowd got more than their moneys worth before Nwokolo landed a devastating body-shot in round five, which Chavez was not able to recover from. Referee Marvin Whittamore waved it off at 0:45.

Nwokolo improved his professional record to 12-1 (11), Chavez drops to 7-2 (4).

In the co-featured attraction, Samantha Worthington took a massive step up in competition as she won the vacant UBO world Super Lightweight title against former four-time world champion Yazmin Rivas from Mexico.

From nearby Lexington, Worthington was the local favourite, but Rivas had more experience and accomplishments than most boxers dare dream of, so it looked like a difficult task going in.

And it certainly wasn't an easy night for Worthington, as Rivas gave everything she had and proved she is still a world class competitor.

But “The Heat” was in tremendous shape and counter-punched effectively from start to finish, out-landing Rivas in almost every round to win a unanimous decision.

Many rounds were close, and it was always competitive and entertaining, so the judges scores of 99-91, 99-91 and 100-90 are deceiving and, while arguably accurate, doesn't do the performance of Rivas justice.

Worthington passed her biggest test impressively, and is now UBO world champion with a record of 8-0 (6). Rivas travels back to Coahuila de Zaragoza at 40-12-1 (11).