No matter how many times he watches the video, Thomas Falowo still thinks he beat Samuel Clarkson on May 24th.
“I’ve watched it plenty of times,” Falowo said. “I’ve even watched it with and without sound.”
Unfortunately for Falowo (6-1, 4 KOs), the result is the same each time – a split-decision win for Clarkson and the first blemish on Falowo’s otherwise flawless record. The good news is he’ll get the chance to erase the memory for good on Thursday, July 19th, 2012 when he returns to the ring to face Dallas’ Rahman Yusubov (8-8, 6 KOs) in a six-round middleweight bout on the undercard of Jimmy Burchfield’s Classic Entertainment & Sports’ “Built To Last” boxing event at the Twin River Event Center in Lincoln, R.I.
“Regardless of whether or not I won the last time out, it was still a competitive fight,” Falowo said. “Overall, it was a good experience. I learned a lot about myself. I stepped up in competition and did what I had to do, except get him out of there.”
Falowo, a Pawtucket, R.I., native, learned a lot in the loss to Clarkson and has worked on correcting his mistakes in training camp, working primarily on his balance and setting up his punches, the latter which is aimed toward helping him snap his year-long drought without a knockout. Part of that, Falowo says, has to do with the increased level of competition, but he also shoulders some of the blame for his inability to finish his last two opponents.
“I feel like I need to set up my knockouts better,” Falowo said. “I’m not a one-punch knockout puncher, so, for me, most of my knockouts come from combinations. It’s more or less a case of being smarter in how I go about it and how effectively I can throw more punches to set up those knockouts.”
Footwork is also an issue. Though Clarkson appeared to stagger Falowo toward the end of the fifth round, Falowo said he was more off-balance than hurt, which may or may not have affected the way the judges scored the bout.
“That might have given the impression that he did more damage than he really did,” Falowo said. “He really didn’t do much damage. I looked like I was wobbly, but I didn’t feel anything in my legs. I was actually hurt more in my third fight [against Zack Thomas].
“Part of it is footwork, and part of it is me standing up higher than I should. I’m working on it.”
Falowo hopes to get it right in time for next Thursday’s clash with Yusubov, who, despite his record, has knocked out the opponent six times in his eight victories and hasn’t fought anyone with more than one loss since March of 2011, and that was against former United States Boxing Assocation (USBA) welterweight champion Carson Jones, who was 28-8-2 at the time and is now 34-9-2.
“He’s a tough guy,” Falowo said. “He comes right at you, and he’s pretty solid. He’s a little shorter than I anticipated, so he’s sturdy, but he comes forward throwing those big shots, so I’ve got a pretty good idea of how he fights.
“I’m just always trying to progress regardless of whether I get a win, loss or draw,” he continued. “You usually learn more from a loss than a win anyway. I’m always trying to do better with each fight and take it to another level.”
