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posted March 26, 2008 at 23:32 in Other Articles

On Friday night, Kassim Ouma, the Ugandan warrior who once held the IBF 154-lb. title, will try to get back on track after a disappointing defeat when he takes on former "Contender" contestant Cornelius Bundrage in a scheduled 10-round middleweight bout to be held at the Seneca Allegheny Casino & Hotel in Salamanca, NY.

BetUS Boxing Betting Odds:

Middleweights

March 28 -- Salamanca, NY

KASSIM OUMA -700

CORNELIUS BUNDRAGE +500

OVER 9.5 ROUNDS -125

UNDER 9.5 ROUNDS -115

For boxing betting purposes, let's size up the contestants:

OUMA (25-4-1, 15 KO's), the -700 favorite in the BetUS boxing betting odds, has been through hell and back, that's for sure. Drafted into the Ugandan army at the age of seven, he later sought and was granted asylum in the United States when he traveled there as part of the Ugandan national boxing team. He came up the hard way, clawing his way up the ranks, and beat several top-ten fighters as he was working his way toward a title shot. He captured the IBF light middleweight crown in October of 2004 with a 12-round decision over Verno Phillips, then he riddled power-punching Kofi Jantuah three months later in such a complete and thorough performance that a star was literally born. But he was a disappointment in losing a decision - and his title - to Roman Karmazin in July of '05. In his last win, he took advantage of Sechew Powell's relative lack of experience and pounded out a decision (August of '06), which in effect led to a chance to fight Jermain taylor for the middleweight title in December of 2006. Considered too small and a "tuneup" for Taylor, he proved to be just that, though his game performance took him the whole twelve rounds. Ouma sat out the next eleven months before stepping in with journeyman Saul Roman last November, and in what was shocking result int he minds of many, he lost a split decision that opened up a lot of questions about how much he has left.

BUNDRAGE (27-3, 16 KO's), the +500 underdog at BetUS, was more or less spoon-fed his first 21 opponents, then when faced with upscale opposition, he was knocked out in one round by the aforementioned Sechew Powell; a bout where both men went down at once right at the start, then after both got up, Bundrage was knocked down again, this time prompting a stoppage. the whole thing lasted 22 seconds. Bundrage then entered "The Contender" reality show, and won a couple of fights before losing to Steve Forbes, who is slated for an upcoming fight with Oscar De La Hoya. His best pro win was in January of last year, a decision over Chris Smith. But he came back only to get TKO'd in eight rounds by Joel Julio last July.

Bundrage has been criticized for having a questionable chin, but he does have some KO power. Ouma is not a KO puncher (15 wins out of 25 inside the distance), but he is usually very, very busy - perhaps the busiest fighter Bundrage has ever encountered. That is, if he still has anything left. that is a legit question, given Ouma's last result. Look - Bundrage may or may not be fresher than Ouma at this point; he certainly isn't as battle-tested. I think Ouma should win this one. But I just don't know that Ouma is at a point where I want to lay 7/1 with him either. The problem is, I have very little confidence in Bundrage, because he has failed for the most part against good competition.

If we can conclude that Ouma's best work is done not by bludgeoning an opponent but by the accumulation of his punches over the course of the match, then it might point us to where we want to go, that is if Bundrage can cooperate by hanging in there. Let’s throw that Powell fight out for just a moment, because anything can conceivably happen when a guy comes out cold. I know that Joel Julio is a pretty good puncher, so obviously Bundrage can absorb some punishment. There's no reason he shouldn't be able to do it here.

I don't mind laying a short price for this fight to go the distance. So let's do the -125 on "Over 9.5 Rounds" in the BetUS boxing betting odds.

 

JAY'S PLAY: OVER 9.5 ROUNDS (-125) **

(Graded on a scale of 1-4 stars)

 

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(Charles Jay of http://www.eBookies.com is a former manager, matchmaker and color commentator in professional boxing. He is also considered by most experts to be the premier investigative writer in the sport's history. He currently pulls no punches in the BetUS Locker Room)