By Alexey Sukachev
CU Arena, Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany - IBF #10 and former European heavyweight champion Alexander Dimitrenko (34-2, 21 KOs) has definitely seen better days but still his inability to deal with the aged and fading Croatian journeyman Ivica Perkovic (19-19, 7 KOs) was shocking. Dimitrenko, just 31, looked semi-capable in the first half of the fight to take rounds in a very workmanlike and uneventful fashion. However, in round five he was dropped hard by Perkovic after a left hook to the chin. Dimitrenko got up on very shaky legs but survived till the bell. He looked very sluggish in the next round as well and didn't look particularly recovered in the closing stanzas. Yet, his experience and Perkovic's limited resources helped the German Ukrainian to avoid bigger problems.
At the end, all three judges had it unanimously for Dimitrenko: 77-74 (twice) and 78-73. BoxingScene scored the fight even closer: 76-75 - for the Ukrainian. Dimitrenko has to think carefully about his future - he has been dropped twice in his last two fights against very limited opposition.
---------------
The WBC Baltic title fight between light middleweights Ali Mammadov of Azerbaijan and Germany-based Bosnian Nico Salzmann turned from a boxing match-up into an ugly clinch- and foulfest, as both fighters wrestled and clinched more than actually boxed. Mammadov was "more aggressive of the two", which means he induced more wrestling and hugging than his opponent. However, he failed in the fistic department unlike the less "active" but more subtle fighter in Salzmann. The Bosnian was one to get a deserved split decision with scores: 99-91, 97-93, while the third judge had it 96-94 - for Azerbaijani.
---------------
Dangerous German journeyman Andrei Reimer moved to 9-10-2, with 8 KOs, after he knocked out Serbian Predrag Kovacevic (1-1, 1 KO) with a hard single right swing in the seventh round of their heated encounter. The bout was awkward before that. Kovacevic hadn't enough skills to corner his chaotically moving opponent, whilst Reimer more showboated than actually boxed as he kept moving from one side to the other, firing wild swings every time he tried to jump in. His intentions were clearly bad but the bout could hardly been scored in either favour due to a sound discrepancy in styles. However, Reimer was the one to get a successful final blow and to knock his foe out.
---------------
Rafael Bejaran (15-2, 7 KOs), a Dominican middleweight import, who was once ranked in top-10 by the WBO, made a successful return to the ring after almost a year of inactivity to stop overmatched Czech Vladimir Fecko (4-56-3, 1 KO) at 2:11 of the third round. Bejaran ended matters with a big right hand to the solar plexus. Fecko was up at seven but referee considered him too dazed to be allowed to continue.
---------------
The Chechen native Timur Dugazaev (1-0) made a successful pro debut, easily outboxing professional loser Petr Jakusievic (0-17) over four. Jakusievic was down in the third round but Dugazaev chose not to press for a knockout. The final scores were identical: 40-35 - across the board for Dugazaev, 27. Jakusievic, 34, has gone the distance just for the second time in his sad career.
---------------
In a battle between two ethnic Bosnians, local favorite Alexander Petkovic (46-4-4, 25 KOs) scored yet another suspicious victory - this time over Bosnian import Memnun Hadzic (5-1, 1 KO). Petkovic, just 32 and once a capable world title challenger (had pushed then-WBO champion Johnny Nelson to the limit in 2003), was very much out of shape but used his vast experience to look superior to his opponent. Then, in the second round, Petkovic started to hit with what seemed to be borderline body punches. Several of them did get under Hadzic's belt, and the last of those made him almost double in two because of pain. Hadzic was in no position to continue, and the referee waved it off to declare Petkovic's TKO victory in what more looked like a DQ instead. Time was 0:56 of the second round.
---------------
In a TV-opener, 17-year old German light heavyweight Vincent Feigenbutz (4-1, 4 KOs) made a very short work of previously undefeated Hungarian Attila Korda (3-1, 3 KOs), 35, knocking him out in the very first round with hard right hooks.
---------------