Said was durable and willing but having fought for a long time at a high level, including meeting Bernard Hopkins twice in middleweight title bouts, Echols had the confidence of someone who has seen it all before.

Said seemed to be winning the fight clearly after six rounds but Echols had an excellent "boxing" round in the seventh, using the jab and putting together combinations.

Said, it seemed to me, shot his bolt in a give-and-take eighth in which the Syrian made a huge effort, and I thought Echols completely outboxed him in the ninth and then hammered him in the 10th, wobbling and hurting his opponent with an impressive variety of shots. Said got a break when his gum shield came out with an ensuing brief respite while it was rinsed and replaced but even so he barely surived the round, which Echols won by a 10-8 margin on one card. The draw seemed the right result, though, 95-95 on two cards, 95-94 in favour of Echols on the third card. After a layoff and apparently not having had the best of preparation I thought that Echols showed he still has plenty left to offer.