News

BRAEKHUS AND NIELSEN STILL CHAMPS

Braekhus stops Castillo in 9

By Per-Ake Persson

September 7, Frederikshavn, Denmark:

Sauerland´s First Lady Norwegian Cecilia Braekhus, 23-0, retained WBA, WBO and WBC female welterweight titles with a ninth round stoppage of Dominican Oxandia Castillo, 12-1-2. Castillo came with a reputation of being a puncher and she was but not much else and Braekhus dominated the fight with her much better boxing. It became increasingly one-sided as Braekhus, possible in her best performance ever, poured it on going all out. Cecilia was out to prove something and she did. Castillo tried to smother her opponent but Braekhus kept coming and in the ninth Castillo took a beating and while she never went down she was out on her feet when referee Mickey Vann stepped in and stopped it at 1.51, After eight it was scored 79-73 twice and 78-74 for Braekhus.

Danish middle Patrick Nielsen, 20-0, retained the WBA I/C title and added the WBO I/C belt to his collection with a one-sided win over US-based Pole Patrick Majewski, 21-2. Majewski made a very slow start and was caught by a left in the fifth that made him touch down and there was a count. Nielsen boxed well on the move and Majewski was unable to cut the ring off and put pressure on his opponent. Instead he ended up following the Dane around the ring and seldom found the range to score with his punches. It became a one-paced fight without any real highlights. In the eleventh it seemed as if Majewski finally had gotten Nielsen under some pressure but then he walked into a solid left and then another. Nielsen kept the distance in the final round and won on scores of 119-108 twice and 118-109.

Lightweight Dennis Ceylan, 7-0, stopped Tommi Schmidt, 6-7, in an all Danish matchup that proved to be a gross mismatch. Ceylan went straight out and put pressure on Schmidt and later knocked him down with right-left hook combination. Schmidt got up but the onslaught continued and then Ceylan scored with a left hook and Tommi went down in delayed effect. As he did the towel came in - landing on Ceylan - and it was stopped at 1.55 of the very first round. It was scheduled for eight.

Former Contender participant Ahmed "Babyface" Kaddour, 27-2-1, returned to action once again and won a decision over Estonian Aleksei Tsatsiasvili, 4-5, in a six rounder with both men weighing in just above the jr middle limit. Kaddour have always had a stamina problem and appeared to tire in the third with Tsatsiasvili coming through with clubbing shots from both hands. It was more of the same in the fourth but Kaddour dug deep and won the fight in the final two rounds showing glimpses of the skills that once made him a bright talent. It was scored 58-56, 59-55 and 60-54.

Danish lightweight Rashid Kassem, 3-0, outscored Bulgarian trialhorse Yordan Vasilev, 14-30-2, over six. Kassem was much too eager in looking for that knockout and that allowed his experienced opponent to last the distance. It was one-way traffic most of the way though and the Dane won on scores of 60-54 on all cards.

Norwegian supermiddle Simen Smaadal, 7-0, outscored Latvian Olegs Fedotovs over six. Fedotovs, 16-13, came through the fight allright though and is now ready to go for the national title next weekend in Riga. Smaadal, fighting with an injured right hand, won on scores of 59-55 twice and 60-53 (there were no knockdowns - just a liberal use of the 10 point must system). Fedotovs was close to going down in the fifth but remained upright and countered well to give the Norwegian a tough fight.

The third Swede on the bill, lightheavy Oscar "Golden Boy" Ahlin, 8-0 (8), stopped outgunned Latvian Egidijus Kakstys, 3-16-2, 2.13 into the second of a scheduled six-rounder. Ahlin dominated the action from the start and hurt Kakstys with bodyshots. Kakstys, a late sub for Artem Solomko, went down twice in the second before it was stopped.

Swedish welter Anthony Yigit, 5-0, outscored Belorus veteran Andrei Staliarchuk, around 11-20-2, over six. Yigit, a southpaw, was out to impress and did so especially in the second when he got Staliarchuk in trouble with heavy hooks to the body. Staliarchuk got through the rough spots though and survived. Anthony, a former Olympian, landed a solid right hook early in the sixth but Andrei took it well. It was scored 60-53 and 60-54 twice in this no knockdown affair.

Norwegian supermiddle Tim-Robin Lihaug, 4-1, stopped Bulgarian Tzvetovar Iliev, 2-2, 57 seconds into the first of a scheduled four-rounder. Lihaug caught his opponent with left-right upercut-left-right combination and Iliev went down and it was called off as he got up looking unsteady. Lihaug have since getting stopped by Oscar Ahlin moved to Copenhagen to be trained by Joey Gamache.

Sauerland Promotion´s show at the Arena Nord in this Northern Danish town kicked off with a heavyweight bout scheduled for four rounds.

Swede Otto Wallin, 2-0, floored out of shape and overweight Estonian Valery Semishkur, 18-29-1, twice for a stoppage at 55 seconds into the second. The towel came in after the first knockdown but the referee missed it and the mismatch continued a little too long.

Per-Åke Persson