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Bozella connects with Larry Hopkins during the second round. Jae Hong/AP/Press Association Images
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Dewey Bozella wins first fight, immediately retires

The 52-year-old, who spent 26 years in prison after a obtaining a wrongful conviction for murder, beat 30-year-old Larry Hopkins on decision to win his first (and only) professional fight.

LAST WEEK WE brought you the story of Dewey Bozella, an enthusiastic boxer who, after spending 26 years in a number of New York prisons, was preparing to make his professional debut on the undercard of Bernard Hopkins.

Well, you’ll no doubt be pleased to hear that Bozella went a little way towards addressing the colossal injustice he suffered by achieving his lifetime goal in front of a packed Las Vegas auditorium on Saturday night.

The decisive moment of the encounter came in the final round, when a strong right jab from the 52-year-0ld succeeded in dislodging his Hopkins’ mouthguard.

The former Sing Sing light-middleweight champion overcame a tentative start to assert his overwhelming dominance in the final two rounds of the four-round encounter, forcing his opponent, a fighter with no wins in three professional outings and who appeared to be wearing a pair of borrowed trunks emblazoned with the Mexican flag, into a series of hasty withdrawals.

According to the LA Times, the fighter described the outcome as “a dream come true”.

“I used to lay in my cell, dreaming this would happen.”

Bozella, who’s currently attempting to overturn a Supreme Court decision blocking his compensation, intends to use the proceeds from the fight to open a gym in his hometown of Newburgh, New Jersey.

Read more on this story from the LA Times>

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