The struggle was a rematch of their bout simply over a 12 months in the past, when Du Plessis triumphed through break up determination following a back-and-forth contest.
Strickland, 33, believes he ought to have been awarded victory that night time, however can don’t have any complaints concerning the judges on the Qudos Financial institution Enviornment in Sydney.
Strickland, who had light-heavyweight and former middleweight champion Alex Pereira in his nook, had angered Australian media throughout struggle week with a collection of inflammatory feedback however was cheered by followers as he made his walkout.
Du Plessis acquired a combined reception however was not fazed as he took management of the struggle within the early levels.
Strickland spent a lot of the competition methodically utilizing his jab and entrance kick, with Du Plessis delivering extra output and touchdown the extra eye-catching strikes.
The South African, who was making the second defence of his belt, combined up his kicks and punches nicely, with Strickland’s nook rising extra pissed off because the rounds slipped by.
An enormous second got here within the fourth spherical, as an enormous proper hand from Du Plessis appeared to interrupt Strickland’s nostril, seeing the American rapidly again off.
With blood gushing down his face, he confirmed exceptional toughness to outlive till the top of the struggle, however was unable to ship any important harm to Du Plessis.
In his post-fight interview, Du Plessis took goal at Perreira, asking “is there nobody else?”, in response to the Brazilian saying beforehand he could be focused on a future matchup.
