Napolitano and Brewer battle to draw
No one was satisfied with the decision in last Saturday’s World Boxing Council United States’ middleweight title bout at the Hamilton Convention Centre between Antonio Napolitano (5-0) and Brandon Brewer (25-1-1 with 11 knockouts).
The fight was declared a draw by the judges.
“Overall the rounds were all really close and they were hard to score,” Napolitano said. “Every time there’s a close fight, each fighter is going to think they won the fight and when the rounds are close, both guys think they won the round, I have never in my life seen a close fight where the guy says, ‘You know what. My opponent won that.’ And it is the same with close rounds.
“He thinks he won and I think I won and it is what it is.”
The 28-year-old St. Catharines native said the fight was just as he expected, but how it played out wasn’t according to script.
“He kind of sucked me into a bit of a brawl. I got caught up in the emotions of the fight and didn’t stick to the game plan. I wanted to bang it out with him and show him I could easily bang it out with him.”
It was another lesson learned in Napolitano’s pro boxing journey.
“I need to stick to the game plan, don’t let my emotions gets in the way and just be smart.”
The eight-round fight was the longest of his career but Napolitano had no trouble going the distance in his first fight since November 2019.
“I have done eight rounds before sparring and sometimes even nine or 10 rounds,” he said. “Lucas (Bahdi) really pushed me to do all that and he really conditioned me well for the fight. The number of rounds wasn’t a problem. I was still fresh after eight rounds and I could easily have gone four more.”
Bahdi, a pro fighter from Niagara Falls, was a welcome addition to Napolitano’s training.
“I have known Lucas since we were 14 or 15 and we have trained together for years,” Napolitano said. “He has a hand injury and can’t really fight so he told me he would train me for the fight. It ended up being a really good combination and he is a really great coach. He is flying out to Minnesota this weekend to coach someone else and he is on the move as a coach.”
Bahdi helped Napolitano in a number of ways.
“I don’t like change and he didn’t change me a lot for that fight, but he added a few things in. And there were certain days where I want to train, train, train and keep going and he told me to rest.”
Napolitano feels Bahdi changed him for the better.
“Now that I’ve watched the tape, I can see everything he was telling me to do I did. I really improved as a fighter.”
He is not sure where and when his next fight will be.
“I am going back to work and I am in the process of trying to buy a house,” he said. “I might be fighting on Canada Day if they have a show in Niagara but I have to talk with my family and see what they think.”
