Tony Averlant Wins WBF World Title In France

By: Clive Baum

Frenchman Tony Averlant made a dream come true on Wednesday night, May 7, in Saint Quentin, when he defeated Serdar Sahin from Germany for the vacant World Boxing Federation (WBF) World Light Heavyweight title in front of more than 3000 spectators at the Palais des Sports.

In a fight that started slow but picked up as the rounds went by, Averlant was almost always a step ahead of the 32-year-old from Berlin, and some nice exchanges made it a good, watchable fight for the fans. But at times it appeared that Sahin lacked the confidence to go all out.

The German tried towards the end to turn the tide, urged on by trainer Sven Ottke, the undefeated former world Super Middleweight Champion, but Averlant always had an answer and was able to make the necessary adjustments to win most of the rounds.

Judges Toni Tiberi (Luxembourg) and Jean-Marzel Nartz (Germany) both scored the bout 116-112, while Christophe Hembert (France) had it slightly closer at 115-113, all in favor of Tony Averlant. Referee in charge was Mark Reels (USA).

Everybody agreed with how the judges saw the fight, and while Averlant will remember this as his biggest achievement in a career where he was written off several times, Sahin will surely wonder why he didn’t do that bit more.

The new WBF World Champion (30) improved his professional record to 20-8-2 (4) in a career where he has also captured European Union and Mediterranean titles. Serdar Sahin lost for only the second time since turning pro in 2005, and travels back to Germany at 22-2 (15).

Promoter was Bleu Ciel Productions.