Eurosport Live, Friday 15th July

IBF International and IBF Pan-Asian Cruiserweight Title: Firat Arslan TKO5 Lubos Suda

A 35 year old Czech and a 40 year old German fighting for the Pan-Asian Title? If they can't be arsed to take it seriously then nor can I.

Arslan was busier and more active early on, getting up close and personal with Suda from the start and not giving him any space at all. He worked well at the close distance with choppy upper cuts and cuffs to the sides of the head. Suda was throwing isolated combinations but didn't have the power to hurt Arslan. A lot of the bout was fought up against the ropes with the guards up against each other and Arslan laying into Suda.

In the fourth a body shot put Suda down. He made it up on 8 and carried on, only to be put down again with another body shot at the end of the round. Bravely coming out for the fourth he remained under relentless pressure, but another left to the side of the ribcage floored him with one minute to go. The fourth time he went down the ref did the right thing and waved it off.

Both boxers are too old to make any impact, but Firat Arslan can be proud to call himself IBF Pan-Asian Cruiserweight Champion.


WBC International Super-Middleweight Title: Nikola Sjekloca UD12 Khoren Gevor

A bout between two contrasting fighters. Sjekloka is a tall, rangy, orthodox stylist who is on the up whereas Gevor is a short, stocky, southpaw brawler who has been in with world class fighters, but lost to them all recently. Such contrasts often make for entertaining fights, but this one ended up more on the scrappy side.

Initially Sjekloka kept the fight at distance behind a probing jab that was also a range-finder for a right cross, while Gevor was unable to get inside the range and land anything of consequence. When he did make it inside Sjetloka held and the punches looked busy but of limited value.

As the fight wore on Gevor managed to close the gap more often and land a few solid punches. He was helped by Sjetloka starting to tire and not moving away after he had delivered punches, meaning he was an easy target for the smaller man. He was starting to throw the fight away by playing into Gevor's hands. In the last couple of rounds however he re-established the jab and found a second wind giving him enough movement to stay out of trouble. It was these last two rounds that won the fight for him, with two of the judges scoring it to him by a single point.

Overall a disappointing fight and Sjetloka will need to learn to box smarter if he's to break into the top ten. Gevor's career at the top level now looks to be as good as over.


WBC Mediterranean Heavyweight Title: Erkan Teper TKO9 Jakov Gospic

This was a 10 bout for a Mediterranean title between two boxers who had never previously fought more than a 6-rounder, neither of whom were from the Mediterranean - one was German and one was Croatian. Accordingly it was fairly low-calibre fair.

Teper set up camp in the middle of the ring and Gospic spent the whole fight circling around him. In the first few rounds there was very little of note, with the first itself being a no-score draw and the next two allowing both boxers to slowly wake up. The fourth saw the first real action as Teper landed an upper cut which, after a second or two delay, saw Gospic go down on one knee. He reacted well though, catching Teper and stunning him later in the round, however beyond that one occasion Gospic never looked to have the power to hurt Teper.

The second half of the fight consisted of Gospic landing a few decent punches that made no impact on Teper, and Teper landing some big punches that were taking their toll. Eventually in the ninth he landed another upper cut flush on Gospic's chin, and the Croat cumpled to the canvas. He made it up but was rightly ruled in no fit state to continue.

Tidy though Gospic was he didn't have enough power to do any damage. In contrast Teper's right upper cut may have enough in it to carry him a little higher up the levels.