NEW YORK — O’Shaquie Foster wore a mixture of emotions on his face as he addressed media on Friday following his split-decision win over Abraham Nova. There was contentment that he emerged victorious despite a spirited challenge from a bitter rival, but also a twinge of regret that he didn’t fully execute on all of the opportunities that were presented to him.
It was Foster’s first fight since signing a promotional deal with Top Rank, and his first fight at Madison Square Garden, and Foster admits he could have done more.
“I’m happy I got the victory for sure but I ain’t never satisfied. I always want to do better. I’m always tough on myself, I always want to look spectacular but every fight ain’t gonna be that way. I’m gonna take it back to the gym and train harder,” said Foster (22-2, 12 knockouts) after making his second defense of the WBC junior lightweight title.
Foster, 30, of Orange, Tex. admits that he was trying to load up too much on power punches, and was rushing his offense. The switch-hitting Foster came out in an orthodox stance for the first two rounds and says it was difficult to find his rhythm early on, but says switching to southpaw, as well as not pulling straight back against the larger Nova (23-2, 16 KOs) helped him get comfortable.
“I was just trying to get my footing right. Once I did switch southpaw I felt better and everything but I was just going with the flow and trying to find my rhythm, I couldn’t really find it in the beginning of the fight,” admits Foster, who won the belt a year ago with a dominant decision win over Rey Vargas.
Foster’s performance was hampered by a right bicep injury, which he sustained in round 5 when his arm collided with Nova’s elbow, making it harder to throw uppercuts. Foster was holding an ice bag to his arm as he addressed media after the fight, and said he would have the injury assessed afterwards. He also says the weight cut had been tough on him, and says he plans to add a nutritionist to his team to assist in the task of coming down to 130 pounds.
“I’ll eventually be going to 135 but I’m gonna try to get a couple more fights at 130. I’m gonna try to hire a nutritionist to do it better next time. It did affect my energy in the fight,” said Foster, The Ring’s no. 2 rated junior lightweight.
Despite these hindrances, Foster was by far the fresher of the two fighters in the second half, rallying strongly in the last third of the bout just as he had in his previous bout, a come-from-behind stoppage of Eduardo Hernandez in Mexico. There would be no late knockout this time, but Foster managed to score a knockdown on a left hook with 20 seconds remaining in the fight. Nova maintained that he had slipped, which left Foster incredulous.
“He’s delusional. It was a knockdown for sure. If I would have done stuff the right way he would have been it would have been a lot of knockdowns but I was rushing stuff, I was trying to land too much power,” said Foster.
Photo by Mikey Williams/Top Rank
If Foster is staying at 130 pounds, the logical next question was, whom would he face next? Foster voiced his preference for a unification bout with WBA junior lightweight titleholder Lamont Roach (24-1-1, 9 KOs), a promotional free agent who won his belt last November with a split decision win over Hector Garcia, or the winner of the March 29 bout between Oscar Valdez and Liam Wilson. The Roach fight may have to wait after he was ordered a week ago to face mandatory challenger Jono Carroll, with the winner of that fight then needing to face number one contender Otar Eranosyan within 120 days.
Valdez, a former titleholder WBO featherweight and WBC junior lightweight titleholder, and Wilson, who impressed in a near-upset a year ago against Emanuel Navarrete, would both make for attractive opponents for Foster, but their positioning in the WBO rankings suggests they may be jockeying for a shot at that organization’s title, should Navarrete remain at lightweight after challenging Denys Berinchyk for one of the belts which became vacant when Devin Haney moved to 140 pounds.
If those fights can’t be made, then there could be a number of more convenient matchups made against Top Rank’s in-house contenders, including Andres Cortes (21-0, 12 KOs), who scored a dominant stoppage of Bryan Chevalier in the fight before Foster-Nova, or Henry Lebron (19-0, 10 KOs), a Puerto Rican prospect who is coming off a majority decision win over previously unbeaten William Foster III in November, or three-time title challenger Robson Conceicao (17-2-1, 8 KOs), who showed tremendous heart to salvage a draw in his last bout with Navarrete.
There will also likely be a mandatory defense ordered this year for Muhammadkhuja Yaqubov (21-1, 11 KOs), the Tajikistani boxer who has won three straight since Foster beat him by a comfortable unanimous decision about two years ago.
“If it’s mandatory and I have to, I’ll take it. It’s cool, I beat the guy [Yaqubov], I’d rather fight Wilson and Oscar Valdez, but if I have to I will satisfy my mandatory,” said Foster.
A call to Foster’s manager Keith Mills seeking comment was not answered on Saturday afternoon.
While all that is being sorted out, Foster says the plan is to get back in the gym and work on sharpening up for his next title defense.
“We’re gonna go back to the drawing board and I’ll do better next time,” said Foster.
Ryan Songalia has written for ESPN, the New York Daily News, Rappler and The Guardian, and is part of the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism Class of 2020. He can be reached at [email protected].
