YURI FOREMAN W12 DANIEL SANTOS

RINGSIDE REPORT: Yuri Foreman seized the moment and outpointed and outclassed a lethargic Daniel Santos to become WBA 154-pound champion on the big show in Las Vegas on Saturday.

I was pleased for Foreman, the New Yorker from Israel (but Belarus-born), who is studying to be a rabbi and no doubt adheres to the psalm blessing the Lord “which teacheth my hands to war and my fingers to fight”.

Foreman has been criticised for being too defensive and not being a very hard hitter, but he was aggressive enough to back up Santos and even bully him on his way to a wide win on points.

As for Foreman not being much of a puncher, he was credited with two knockdowns against Santos but hurt him far more when a right hand had the Puerto Rican fighter hanging on in the fourth round. Maybe this speaks more of Santos’s chin than any newly discovered firepower on Foreman’s part, but I know one thing — I know that Santos was very respectful of the challenger’s right hand.

Santos's inactivity and rumoured massive weight loss probably had a bearing on his performance, but Foreman went out and fought the fight he needed to fight. He showed the movement and the jabbing that had been expected, but he was bold enough to attack at opportune moments, and it was this ability to vary his tactics that had Santos looking flustered, frustrated and at times completely flummoxed.

“I knew I had to be more aggressive than I usually am to win this fight,” Foreman told me afterwards, and he boxed about as perfect a fight as one could hope to see from an underdog in his biggest bout.

Santos had his best round in the seventh, when Foreman bled from a cut over the left eye and the ringside doctor was called up onto the ring apron to inspect the damage. The Puerto Rican boxer was finally able to land the left hand from his southpaw stance, but not with enough power or consistency to turn the tide, and Foreman closed out the fight in style by dominating the last three rounds.

It was a well-planned win and, for me anyway, a pleasing one because I like to see a young boxer go out to make the most of his big moment — and maybe silence a few critics in so doing.