Former WBC interim junior middleweight champion Serhii Bohachuk (26-2, 24 KOs) won a harder-than-expected 10-round unanimous decision over the crafty, 6’3″ Mykal Fox (24-5, 5 KOs) on Saturday night at the Commerce Casino in Commerce, California. It was a fight that easily could have gone the other way, to Fox or been scored a draw.

Close Rounds, Wide Scores

The scores were 97-93, 97-93, and 98-92. I scored the fight for Fox 97-93. There was a knockdown that should have been credited to Fox.

The rounds were close, making it challenging to tell who was getting the better of the action. Fox out-landed the slow-punching Bohachuk by a wide margin, constantly making him miss with his shots. Bohachuk, 30, was the aggressor throughout the constant, but was getting hit repeatedly by Fox as he plodded forward. The gangly Fox’s punches had nothing on them, but there were so many of them that it was hard to give Bohachuk many rounds.

A bit of controversy was involved in the 10th when Fox dropped Bohachuk with a jab as he was coming forward. The referee ruled it a slip, but it looked like a clear knockdown. Fox timed his jab perfectly, catching Bohachuk as he was plodding in, and dropped him.

It wouldn’t have changed the outcome of the fight if the ref had ruled it a knockdown, but it would have made it closer. Even with the seemingly blown call, Fox looked like he’d done enough to win or deserves a draw.

This was NOT a good performance by Bohachuk at all. Compared to his war against Vergil Ortiz Jr. last August, this was nowhere near as good an effort. He never figured out Fox’s style and struggled down the stretch when the lanky fighter started hitting him a lot.

Accuracy Issues for Bohachuk

Bohachuk frequently missed his shots and occasionally caught Fox with a good shot. Bohachuk did not focus his punches on Fox’s body because his accuracy would have increased. He missed so many shots trying to hit the elusive Fox to the head, and it looked like his hand-eye coordination was off. He resembled Rocky Balboa, missing shots repeatedly and getting picked apart. It was hard to watch at times.

In contrast, light welterweight southpaw Shohjahon Ergashev was much more accurate when he fought Fox in 2019. He connected with left hands and efficiently dealt with his height advantage. Egashev would stay out of range and then dart forward to catch Fox with left hands.