Hurd vs Williams results: Matt Korobov goes to disputed majority draw with Immanuwel Aleem

UPDATE: The fight’s decision was changed to a majority draw after the original announcement of a majority decision win for Korobov. Scores were 95-95, 95-95, and 97-93 Korobov, which is an awful decision. Original recap text is below. — Scott

Russian middleweight veteran Matt Korobov was able to build enough of an early lead to hold off a late charge from Immanuwel Aleem, kicking off tonight’s FOX card with a win in an entertaining 10-round fight.

Scores were 95-95, 96-95, and 97-93 for Korobov, giving him a majority decision win. Bad Left Hook had it wider, at 98-92 for Korobov, but could have seen it as close as 96-94 with a couple of rounds that could’ve gone Aleem’s way.

Our live coverage of Hurd vs Williams continues here!

Korobov (29-2, 14 KO) keeps himself in the mix at 160 at age 36 with this victory, but just as he did in his tight loss in December to Jermall Charlo, the vet saw some issues with his gas tank down the stretch, allowing Aleem (18-2-1, 11 KO) to make this fight close on the cards.

In the last three rounds especially, Korobov faded and Aleem picked up the pace, still trying his best to win and possibly get Korobov out of there.

There was a right hook in the fourth round from Korobov that probably should’ve been scored a knockdown against Aleem, but referee Michelle Myers did not rule it one. Aleem was hurt pretty badly on an uppercut in the sixth round, too, but stayed on his feet. Korobov’s straight lefts and uppercuts with both hands were a big factor for him.

But again, Aleem did not go away, and when he got a chance to go after it late, he did. He was busy and landed good stuff on Korobov in the final three rounds, but Korobov was also able to endure the punishment.

“It was a good experience for the future. There’s a lot of things to work on, and I will,” Korobov said. “He was a good challenger and gave me a good fight. I’m looking forward to being better in the next fight.”

“That was real fun. I think I was getting closer and closer to the stoppage. His gas was going down, I was picking it up,” Aleem said.