Contender Series | Canada's El-Sinawi scores dramatic win

"I told you that he would lose," said a happy Waseem El-Sinawi on Wednesday night after he had scored a dramatic second-round technical knockout victory over Jamaica's Ramel Lewis, in the third week of the Wray & Nephew Contender series at the Chinese Benevolent Association auditorium.

After losing the first round on all the scorecards of the judges, and being on the defensive for most of the second round, El-Sinawi exploded in the third minute, put Lewis down twice, and had him fighting hard to stay on his feet when referee Owen Nelson called a halt to the fight after two minutes and 34 seconds had expired.

It was action all the way in the spirited contest, and Lewis, who declared that he was " fit and ready" at the weigh-in and promised to break his four-fight losing streak, saw things change abruptly at the halfway mark of the second round. He was eventually sent back to his corner a dejected man, with a record that now reads, seven wins and nine losses.

Lewis gave away five and a half inches in height and four inches in reach and decided early that he would try to keep the action at close range. He did so successfully in the first round, and his attacks to the body and powerful hooks and uppercuts gave spectators the impression that he was going to be hard to beat. He maintained this pattern at the start of the second round, but El-Sinawi was just able to give himself enough room to land a solid left hook to the body and a right to the head that changed the pattern of the fight abruptly.

Right Hook to the Head

He backed Lewis into a corner and put him down with a right hook to the head. Lewis pulled himself up quickly, and was given the mandatory eight count. El-Sinawi was on him quickly however, and in a flash, he was down once more.

Lewis confided afterwards that after an excellent first round, he "got too comfortable and relaxed, and was caught by a good right hand. He hurt me and I was not able to recover, but that is life". He said further, that he had hoped to go deep in the competition this year, but that did not happen and he now has to watch from the ringside.

A very happy El-Sinawi said that he was "thrilled" and promised to be even better when he gets back in the ring in the quarter-finals. "I want to win it all" was his parting shot. The winner of the competition takes home $2-million, the runner-up, $500,000, third $250,000, and fourth $200,000.