By Alexey Sukachev
At the Porsche-Arena in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany, Steve Herelius (20-1-1, 12 KOs) of France became the new WBA Interim cruiserweight champion following a dramatic (and, hopefully, not tragic) eleventh-round TKO over 39-year old German veteran Firat Arslan (now 29-5-1, 18 KOs). WBA #5 Arslan, who was last seen in the ring almost two years ago, collapsed badly in his corner after a terrible beating in the eleventh round and was taken out on strecther being almost unconscious.
This contest was rightfully sanctioned for the WBA interim title but one of the contestants got a gift spot in this match-up. Germany-based Turk Arslan lost his WBA title via TKO to Panamanian Guillermo Jones in September 2008 and had never fought since then yet he was able to clinch a high spot in the newest WBA rankings (even though he suffered some light injuries in a car crash the last year). Former heavyweight Herelius was also somewhat unexpected figure in this one as 2010 is just his second year as a cruiserweight.
Despite being a bit inexperienced in terms of a new weight class (in comparison with lifetime cruiser Arslan) 33-year old Fenchman showed signs of maturity and considerable skills in opening rounds. WBA #4 and WBO #7 Herelius easily moved around Arslan applying stick-and-move tactics. He was successful in that one scoring much although with somewhat slappy blows. However, the German fighter struggled to deliver anything of note preffering to be tightly covered with his block. Arslan showed some signs of live in the second, but round three was once again totally in Frenchman's favour.
In round four, Arslan finally got going and landed several clean shots with a special accent on his left hook to the liver and also straight left hand, which saw Herelius slightly wobbled. Round five was even - maybe on the strength of Arslan's last round surge. In the sixth stanza Herelius got back into action and, smartly avoiding Firat's heavy swings, took and edge with is activity. Round seven was Arslan's best in a fight. Steve Herelius also contributed to this local turnaround and paid a serious price for his constant showboating. Rounds eight and nine were back-and-fourth with each fighter having his share of success.
Round ten was in Herelius favour but he lost a point from IBHOF referee Stanley Christodoulou for an excessive use of his head. He outworked Arslan in that round, however, making it a draw 9-9. The pattern changed drastically at the start of the eleventh. Promptly after its start Arslan ate a series of heavy blows by Herelius and went into survival mode. For the next two and a half minutes he threw exactly one weak blow and was hit mercilessly with a variety of punches, including head-ripping uppercuts and overhand lefts. He was badly rocked at the very end and was unable to get into his corner wothout referee's help. Soon thereafter Arslan's head coach Michael Timm put an end to this contest. Arslan immediately collapsed and was unable to regain consciousness before being taken out on strecther.
Steve Herelius is a new WBA interim champion at 200 lbs. The full champion is still Guillermo "Missed-in-action" Jones, who hadn't fought since his TKO over Arslan and who had nothing scheduled at the time. Long-time WBA #1 Valery Brudov of Russian remains on the outside in vein looking inside almost without any hope for a title shot.
One of the biggest upsets ever in female boxing history took place, Canadian southpaw Jeannine Garside (10-3-1, 4 KOs) scored a unanimous decision to dethrone long-reigning WBC, WBO and WIBF featherweight champion Ina Menzer (now 26-1, with 10 KOs) from Atbasar, Kazakhstan, by way of Munhcengladbach, Germany. That was 16th defense for then-titlist Menzer since winning her first (WIBF) belt in 2005.
Garside was a better fighter of two since the starters. She often caught unpredictably rusty Menzer with her left counters and hard overhand right hooks. Garside also did a great job avoiding straight hands by the champion. Rounds two and three were huge in favour of the Canadian, while the fourth was pretty even. Both fighters were fighting inside with their heads dangerously close to one another. Garside was warned by referee Daniel Van De Viele in the fourth.
Menzer mounted a slight comeback to take an edge in the fifth. However, Jeannine delivered her best round in the sixth when she landed numerous left hands and forced the titleholder to run at the end of the stanza. Round seven was rather calm and Menzer found some success on her way in rounds eight and nine. Feeling the victory can be illusional on a hostile territory, Garside went in for kill in the last round. She got the better of Garside and even sent her in a legitimate knockdown with a straight left hand, which was amazingly discarded by Van De Viele. It hadn't reflected on finals scorecards though as all three judges had (and rightfully so!) this contest in Jeannine Garside's favour: 96-94 (twice) and 98-92. BoxingScene also scored it 98-92 - for the brand new featherweight multichampion.
Beijing Olympics heavyweight gold medalist for Russia, Rakhim Chakhkiev (6-0, 5 KOs), suffered the first tiny blemish in his record by going a full six-round distance against tough-as-nails Polish journeyman Lukasz Rusiewicz (8-9, 1 KO). The Russian cruiserweight was considerably better than his opponent but failed to realize his huge advantage though winning all six rounds. There were no knockdowns. Rusiewicz's sole stoppage loss came by way of cuts.
2009 Milano amateur championship gold medalist Jack Culcay (5-0, 3 KOs) looked great but failed to stop journeyman Omar Siala (12-13-2, 3 KOs) in six one-sided rounds. Culcay was pummeling Siala from pillar to post for six rounds while Siala offered little offense in return. However, Culcay was unsuccesful in scoring a stoppage despite some rocky moments for Siala in latter rounds. All three rounds scored a fight unanimously and widely in Culcay's favour.
WBO #5 Maciej "Matt" Zegan (42-5-1, 21 KOs) has hardly ever looked any worse than in his rematch against Armenian Araik Sachbazjan (12-15, 5 KOs), yet he clinched a unanimous decision over the same opponent he was able to defeat lopsidedly half a year ago. Zegan was more precise in several rounds but Sachbazjan never stepped back and tried to counter each of Zegan's blows. The Armenian finished this fight in style slightly wobbling ex-world title challenger several times during the closing stanza but it was ultimately not enough to get him a victory. BoxingScene saw this fight 76-76 - a draw.
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