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July 23rd, 2002. 23 year old Elvir Muriqi aka “The Kosovo Kid” took on 35 year old Sam Ahmad in a Light Heavyweight 10-rounder in New Rochelle, New York. In the same fight card, former WBA Welterweight Champion Aaron Davis fought for the 55th time of his career in a scheduled Super Middleweight 10-rounder.
Prefight records; Muriqi 23(13)-1, Ahmad 16(7)-2-3.
It was a tremendous fight between the Kosovar-American and the Pensylvanian where a total of 8 trips to the canvas occurred with 6 official knockdowns called before it was waved off merely 3 seconds to end round 3.
In round 1, Ahmad nailed Muriqi with a powerful right hand behind the the ear after dishing out a number of body shots in the 1st minute. Towards the midpoint, Muriqi returned the favor with a looping right hand followed by a barrage of lefts and rights to the head. Ahmad was up at the count of 4 and as Muriqi came forward to throw a left downstairs he was nailed with a devastating right upstairs that floored him for the 2nd time within the 2nd minute of the fight.
Ahmad attempted to secure the finish by detonating fusillades after fusillades of bombs on Muriqi who shakily beat the count but he was unable to get the job done due to the unyielding will of the Pec-born warrior who was one knockdown away from losing the fight in the opening salvo as the 3 knockdown rule was in effect.
In round 2, Muriqi was floored twice within 90 seconds of the round courtesy of counter rights and looked to be on his way to an early knockout loss once again. However, he displayed unbelievable resolve by coming back to wobble Ahmad with his own right hands. With about 20 seconds left to the bell, Muriqi connected with barrages of lefts and rights to the head and then to the body that appeared to have floored Ahmad but referee James Santa ruled it a slip as he was shoved to the canvas while in a clinch.
In round 3, Muriqi looked to be the fresher fighter although he had been down 4x. On the other hand, Ahmad’s legs were evidently unsteady. Going into the 1:30 mark, Muriqi hurt him with a couple of hard head shots and cornered him to the ropes but the gutsy Philly-born fighter retaliated with a left hook-right cross combo to halt the onslaught.
However, the end was impending as Ahmad was floored with the same punch he scored his 1st knockdown with; a hard right hand behind the ear. He made it to his feet and was immediately decked again with another right but as he was on his way down he tackled Muriqi to the canvas with him which resulted in Santa errornously ruling it a slip.
The undetered Muriqi wasted no time and went for the kill with a salvo of unanswered head shots that prompted the referee to step in and saved Ahmad from the merciless assault at the 2:57 mark.
In the main undercard fight, 35 year old Aaron Davis defeated Ross Thompson via MD10 and retired with a final record of 49(31)-6. Davis made his pro debut back in May 1986 and went on to rack up an impressive string of 29 wins before winning the WBA Welterweight Title via KO9 over Mark Breland in July 1990.
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