After the second round, Chris Colbert's trainer Aureliano Sosa told him to keep jabbing Tugstsogt Nyambayar.
Colbert more than took heed, jabbing his way to a lopsided unanimous decision victory over the outclassed Mongolian contender Saturday night. Judges at the Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, Calif. scored it 117-111, 118-110, and 118-110, all in favor of Colbert, who improved to 16-0 and retained his WBA interim junior lightweight title.
Colbert admitted in victory that he felt Nyambayar's power early and decided to double down on his commitment to the jab.
"The name of the game is to hit and not get hit," Colbert said. "So, I had to use my Muhammad Ali tactics. 'Float like a butterfly and sting like a bee.'
"In boxing, the jab will set you free," he added seconds later. "It will get you in trouble and out of trouble sometimes."
Colbert used the jab in multiple ways in his 36 minutes of dazzling work Saturday night. At times, he doubled up with the right jab. Other times, he flicked out the left jab to set up a right hand, which either came over the top or at a slicing angle that Nyambayar just couldn't figure out.
Although Nyambayar had some success pressuring forward and getting to the inside, Colbert would quickly stifle the Mongolian fighter's momentum by bouncing to the outside and going back to the jab.
Colbert took nearly every round of the fight behind the jab, superior hand speed and footwork, and flat-out superb boxing skills.
The 24-year-old told Showtime's Jim Gray that he'd like to fight at least once more this year.
"I'm No. 1 in the WBA," the Brooklyn fighter said, "so Al Haymon (Colbert’s advisor), you know what to do."
Gervonta Davis is the WBA (Super) junior lightweight champion. However, since he was recently victorious at 140 pounds, he might opt to not return to 130 pounds any time soon.
Here's how the Colbert-Nyambayar main card went.