The 29 year-old’s power was the ultimate difference in an entertaining bout that saw N’Dam down twice in the fourth, sixth and twelfth rounds as ‘Kid Chocolate’ pleased the home crowd at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn by taking the title.
I had the fight 102-103 in Quillin’s favour going into the last round, with the American pulling off his final two knockdowns with just 30 seconds left to rubberstamp his impeding status as a world champion and make my final card 109-113.
The three judges scored the bout fractionally differently as all three carded 115-107 to Quillin, although N’Dam, 28, deserved more credit for a gutsy performance that may see the Frenchman invited back to the US in the future.
Quillin extends his unbeaten record to 28 fights, whilst in contrast N’Dam dropped his maiden loss in his 28 fights, but will have gained a new wave of fans with his powers of recovery from the knockdowns.
