By Alexey Sukachev

Palasport, Vicenza, Veneto, Italy - In what was thought to be a battle of two ring-worn veteran prizefighters, Michele Di Rocco (33-1-1, 14 KOs) brutally avenged the sole loss of his career by knocking out Guiseppe Lauri after just 65 seconds of their rematch for the vacant EBU-EU light welterweight title.

Four and a half years ago, Lauri (now 53-10, 31 KOs) stopped then-undefeated Di Rocco in seven rounds to acquire the EBU-EU title - but this time the Italian looked like a completely shot fighter. Di Rocco immediately landed several big punches, then pinned Lauri, 35, to the ropes with a series of hard right hands and soon finished him off with a frightening left-right combination. Referee Luigi Muratore jumped in - and after a short count he waved the fight off as Lauri was in no position to continue.

With four hard knockout losses in less than two years, Guiseppe should probably think about putting an end to his glorious and well-earned career before getting seriously hurt in the future.

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Italian fistic veteran Simona Galassi (17-1-1, 3 KOs) successfully defended her IBF super flyweight title for the first time, beating determined Hungerian challenger Renata Szebeledi (15-9, 8 KOs) in a close fight. Galassi, still rocking at 39, was sharper but younger and fresher Szebeledi soundly proved she came to the ring to get some accolades (unlike the vast majority of her male compatriots) and gave her all by often beating Simona to the punch. At the end it wasn't enough as "Queen Romagna" Galassi was awarded a close win over ten rounds, with all three scorecards being identical: 97-94. Simona previously lost just once to Mexican star Mariana Juarez, while Szebeledi has never been stopped in her career.

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Coming back after his highly controversial loss to WBC super featherweight champion Takahiro Aoh, Italian Devis Boschiero (30-1-1, 15 KOs) easily stopped badly overmatched Hungarian Istvan Kiss (8-3, 4 KOs) in the second round. WBC #4 Boschiero, 30, was hitting Kiss at will from the start. Midst into the second, the world-class local boy landed a crushing right uppercut from the distance, which had the Hungarian reeling. Boschiero went in for kill, and soon forced Kiss to spit out the mouthpiece and then put him down for the count with a huge right hook to the body. A nice return for the Italian.

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