Highlights
–It was a tale of two halves in Shelton, Washington, as Gerald Washington came out with a clear plan to use every inch of his height advantage to keep Amir Mansour at a comfortable distance. The plan worked to perfection through the opening rounds.
–Mansour made the right adjustments midway through the fight and started getting inside of Washington’s jab. The 6-foot-6 Washington had no answers as Mansour clawed his way back into the bout with a high-octane attack to the body.
–Although Washington seemed to be losing steam, he did enough over the final two rounds to salvage a split draw against Mansour on the judges' scorecards.
Gerald Washington had an eight-inch reach advantage over Amir Mansour, and he fought like a man who was ready to exploit every fraction of it—at least for half of the 10-round bout.
Firing crisp jabs and sharp counters through the first half of their showdown at Little Creek Casino Resort, Washington kept Mansour well at bay through the first few stanzas—including picking Mansour off with a beautiful uppercut in the fourth.
But Mansour was a pit bull in the ring, going all-in for a high-volume attack that punished Washington to the body into the middle and late rounds.
Mansour's aggression seemed to slow the 6-foot-6 Washington, and the 43-year-old southpaw was able to work his way back into the fight.
Washington rallied in the ninth and 10th frames, using his length as he did in the early rounds.
In the end, the two fighters had to settle for a split draw—much to the chagrin of both—as judge Adalaide Byrd scored it 97-93 for Washington, judge Steve Morrow sided with Mansour, 96-94, and judge Pat Russell saw it as 95-95.
Gerald Washington and Amir Mansour were evenly balanced over ten rounds.
