40-year-old Nate Campbell had short notice and was the much smaller man against Canadian welterweight prospect Kevin Bizier, but the Florida veteran gave an effort tonight in the Friday Night Fights main event. Sadly for Campbell, it wasn't nearly enough to overcome years of wear and tear and the physical mismatch, as Campbell retired from the bout after eight rounds of mostly one-sided action with a back injury.
For the most part, Bizier (20-0, 14 KO) was able to physically dominate Campbell (36-10-1, 26 KO), who showed that he still had a little left in the tank, but was unable to do much with the bigger fighter. After the bout, Campbell said he'd go back to 140 pounds, where he feels he can still fight, and he might be right. He was doing well at that weight just last year, and doesn't have trigger issues or anything like that -- mentally, he was there tonight, and he was able to throw some punches, but he couldn't do enough to be competitive.
As for Bizier, the reviews of his performance were middling. He doesn't seem to have any standout qualities, really, but we'll have to learn more when he's getting tested against tougher opponents in the future.
In the co-feature, Baha Laham (11-0-1, 4 KO) scored a majority decision win over Tyler Asselstine (12-1, 7 KO). Like Campbell, Laham was fighting on short notice. It was a competitive fight that most seemed to score closely for Asselstine, but the decision wasn't a robbery or anything. Scores were 96-94, 96-94, and 95-95. BLH had it 96-94 for Asselstine.