It was March 28th 2014 at Cage Fighting Warriors Championship 10. The crowd were buzzing in the King Hussein Youth City Boxing Arena, as their man Jarrah Al Selawi, a promising Jordanian fighter entered the arena.
His opponent on this night was a novice English fighter, Carl Booth, who entered the cage as an impressive specimen. Yet, this was his first professional fight and should have been another notch on Al Selawi’s record.
The crowd were chanting Al Selawi’s name as the bell rang and the two men exchanged kicks and the Jordanian established the center of the cage. He closed in on Booth and prepared to launch his first attack as Booth hesitated and allowed him to press forward.
Then it happened. After just 39 seconds, Al Selawi went to throw a left-hook and dropped his left hand. This allowed a momentary window for Booth to land his right-hand bomb, which he did emphatically. Bang. The sheer power and precision of his punch knocked the Jordanian unconscious instantly and silenced the partisan crowd.
Fast-forward two-and-a-half years and we have an interesting scenario as both these fighters’ careers have flourished and they are both set to appear on Brave 2: Dynasty in Bahrain on December 2nd.
Booth is on a five fight winning streak and is looking every bit the monster he showed that night in 2014. On the other hand, Brave CF has singed Al Selawi who has looked nothing short of amazing since that knockout defeat, winning five out of his last six fights impressively.
He is still the only man to beat Mohammad Fakhreddine and he did it emphatically with a Kimura submission.
Now he faces a huge test at Brave 2, against Erik Carlsson. Yet should he win and Booth emerge victorious against Gadzhimusa Gaziev, there could be a rematch on the cards.
Al Selawi will surely want to erase this crushing defeat from his record. And Booth could do worse than a rematch. The popular Jordanian fighter’s career has definitely taken off since their first fight.
This rematch would be a big draw for fight fans around the world. In fact, this fight which would attract much publicity, which in turn would boost the name of both fighters.
Both Booth and Al Selawi face their toughest test at Brave 2: Dynasty. If they pass this test, it seems inevitable that their parallel paths will cross again.
