Nykobing Falster, Denmark – It wasn’t easy or pretty, but local hero Kem Ljungqvist (14-0) won the vacant WBC international bridgeweight title with a unanimous decision over Swiss boxer Benoit Huber (8-3).
After ten hard-fought rounds of boxing, the judges had it twice 98-92 and 97-93. The shorter, lighter Huber swung wildly and Ljungqvist, a tall southpaw, struggled to find range and kept crashing into stiff counterattacks. The Dane, cut across both eyes and on his nose, worked hard, kept going and wore down his stubborn opponent and was a clear winner in the end.
Middleweight Jacob Porsgaard (4-0) easily knocked out Bosnian Nehrudin Cikaric (1-5) in the second round of a mismatch. Cikaric was savagely beaten, lost his balance and just couldn’t fight at all. Porsgaard took his time and then dropped his opponent twice to win by ko at 1.14.
Heva Sharif (5-0) stopped inept Bosnian Jasmin Mahalbasic (1-5) in the first round. Sharif got out fast while Mahalbasic didn’t and took a beating on the way. He backed out at one point, but got a standing eight and the fight went on for far too long. The second time Mahalbasic retired, the referee counted him out. The weather 1.11.
Sharif very late replaced Frank Madsen, who in turn replaced Haris Dzindo.
French heavyweight Wilfried Florentin made his professional debut and stopped overweight Georgian veteran Soso Abuladze 1.11 in the second round. Abuladze took a beating during the brief fight, bleeding badly from his nose and also went down in the first one.
Florentin is on leave in Luxembourg as he is suspended for three years in France for his part in a fight in which he punched a 60-year-old man. The first year is supposed to be “hard” in that he is not allowed to fight (at least not in a boxing ring) at all. The suspension started because of what I was told on April 22. However, everyone seems to be looking the other way on this one (including the French Federation).
