Amir Mansour Outworks Travis Kauffman For Upset Win

Of all the scenarios envisioned by boxing experts, Amir Mansour marching into Travis Kauffman's hometown and taking a decision was probably the least likely of the bunch.

Yet ,that is precisely what took place Friday evening as Mansour claimed a 12-round majority decision at the Santander Arena in Reading, Pennsylvania. The 44-year old southpaw had to wade through a 114-114 card turned in by Steve Weisfeld - at his best one of the very top judges in the world, but whom has turned in some horrible scorecards in recent weeks - to win by scores of 115-113 and 117-111 in the eyes of the other two judges.

The fight began close, with both heavyweights swapping momentum and leather. Mansour put it altogether in the second half of the contest, as the body beautiful Delaware resident - by way of Jersey, while Philly-trained - caught his second wind while the fleshy Kauffman was gasping for air over the last several rounds.

Any difficulty that possibly could have been considered in scoring was wondering how to properly reflect upon Mansour's constant movement and Kauffman's efforts to make it a slugfest. Still, Kauffman didn't give even the most hometown-friendly official much reason to believe he was in control of himself until the 12th and final round, as they both fought the final three minutes as if they needed a knockout to win.

Those were precisely the orders handed down to Kauffman by head trainer Brother Nazim Richardson as well as his father/co-trainer/promoter Marshall.

Mansour was there every step of the way to never allow his weakened opponent to catch his breath.

The win is the first for Mansour since a May '15 win over journeyman Joey Dawejko. Since then, he was forced to settle for a draw versus Gerald Washington and a corner stoppage loss to Dominic Breazeale in a Fox-televised clash he was easily winning prior to having to quit on his stool due to injuries last January as he improves to 23-2-1 (16KOs).

Meanwhile, Kauffman falls to 31-2 (23KOs). It is the second time in his past three contests where the 31-year old failed to register a victory. He fell short on two of the three cards in a Dec. '15 showdown with Chris Arreola that changed from a split decision loss to a No-Decision after Arreola tested positive for marijuana.