Uisman Lima says it took courage to get out of his Portuguese comfort zone to register a successful defence of his IBO junior-middleweight belt, when he pummeled Shervantaigh “SK” Koopman in nine rounds on Saturday.
The fight, scheduled for 12 rounds, headlined the Golden Gloves six-fight tournament.
“If you want to be good as a fighter, you have to take such risks because they make you stronger mentally and tougher inside,” said the Portugal-based champion from Angola.
If you want to be good as a fighter, you have to take such risks because they make you stronger mentally and tougher inside
— Uisman Lima
“You must get out of your comfort zone because sometimes things get easier when fighting at home. Pity our boxing in Portugal is not so powerful, so this forces you to go and fight outside.”
Portugal is known worldwide as a footballing nation, but Lima intends to carve his niche in the fight space.
He just needs to be consistent in defending his IBO belt, sooner rather than later, other sanctioning boxing bodies – the WBC, IBF, WBA and WBO – will have no choice but to give him opportunities.
Lima threw punches in bunches from round one. Nicknamed “Monstro”, the left-handed champion's work rate was very high; you could think he was the challenger. He dictated the terms and pace of the fight and was in charge of the ring.
On the other hand, Koopman looked terrified. There was a deafening silence from the big crowd in the Centre Court when Koopman was dropped in round nine.
Getting up was his worst mistake because Lima jumped at him and shook him up badly, prompting the boxer's father, Charlton Koopman, who is the assistant trainer to Vusi Mtolo, to throw in the towel, rescuing his son.
That was Koopmans' first loss after 15 straight wins. “Koopman is a good guy; I could have finished him in round one if he were not good,” said Lima, who improved to 10 short-route wins in 14 victories against a loss.
Bringing Lima to SA is understood to have cost an arm and a leg. Promoter Rodney Berman was visibly disappointed by the outcome.
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