Wuppertal, Germany – When AGON Sports announced this show for Wuppertal, it was to be the Duel of the Germans for the vacant EBU Super Welterweight title between local hero and AGON fighter Jama Saidi and Abass Baraou headlining. However, Saidi failed the medical due to a heart condition that could force his retirement. The show went on and it was good.
Middleweight Vincenzo “Il Capo” Gualtieri (20-0-1) retained an IBF regional middleweight title by outpointing Italian challenger Vincenzo Bevilacqua (18-2) after twelve one-sided rounds. Gualtieri is a skilled boxer who enjoys making his opponents fail but can’t get them to pay because he prefers to pose a bit. In Bivalacqua he had an opponent who couldn’t hurt him and who seemed content to hold the distance, which he did. He went 118-110 twice and 116-112, all numbers that seemed generous for Bivalacqua.
Bjorn Schicke (20-1-1) won the rematch against Marten Arsumanjan (12-2-2) and thus won the EU middleweight after an exciting, fast and foul-filled fight between two evenly matched fighters. . Arsumanjan had the speed, power and skills on his side, while Schicke had learned the lessons from the first fight where he was stopped and pressured his opponent, gave him no respite and worked hard. Schicke was stunned at first and Arsumanjan smiled and posed and it seemed like history would repeat itself. But this time Schicke came back and hurt Arsumanjan in the fifth and moments later the champion was on the court. However, Marten recovered and from then on it was back and forth and they both had their moments. In the end, the three judges had everything 115-112 for the new champion.
IBF IC Super Welterweight Champion Haro Matevosyan (16-0) retained the title against Mexico’s Jhony Montano (35-17-2) with a lopsided unanimous decision. Matevosyan controlled the action, showed good defense but was never able to hurt his opponent. He scored 118-110 twice and 116-112. There were no crashes and little drama.
Heavyweight great Granti Shala moved to 12-0 with a unanimous points victory over Argentina’s Kevin Espindola (7-6). Shala boxed carefully behind the jab as Espindola continued to smile and nod with every punch his opponent landed. Kevin looked dangerous throughout, but outside of a left hook late in the fifth, he never landed anything significant.
Spanish super middleweight Jose Luis Navarro Gomez (6-0, 6 KO’s) stopped and handed Dimitar Tilev (15-1) his first loss and stopped him on his second. The fight was close but it was obvious that both had the power to hurt the other. A short left hook from the Spaniard dropped Tilev and really hurt him. The fight was allowed to continue, but after another left hook rocked Tilev, the towel went in and stopped at 2.26 with Tilev’s right hand swollen and bleeding.
Welterweight Nathanael Lukoki (6-0) outclassed Italian southpaw Luca Maccaroni (17-10-4) in a fast-paced six-rounder. The much shorter Maccaroni was overtaken by the elegant Lukoki, but put in a good performance.
Argentine middleweight Mateo Veron (29-29-4) and German Thomas Piccirillo (10-0-4) tied over eight and it was a close fight with Veron, a skilled veteran, who knows all the tricks in the book, used well the ring. while Piccirillo, very un-German in his style, likes to fight inside but rarely finds the range. Veron put together a strong finish and earned a split draw through his efforts.
In the first match of the show, heavyweight Alexander Mueller von Berge (5-0) defeated Italian Alfonso Damiani (5-2). von Berge dropped his opponent with a left hook in the first and the end seemed close, but Damiani fought back and the German had to settle for a clear points win.
