By Alexey Sukachev
Montenegro, a small state on the shores of Adriatic Sea, continues its rise as a local hotbed of prizefighting. Over the weekend in Niksic, local promoter Veselin Zizic staged a five-bout card, which saw a semi-significant heavyweight title fight.
WBA #11 Jovo Pudar (29-3, 16 KOs), a 41-year old Bosnian/Serbian heavyweight/cruiserweight, best known for his one-sided loss to Samuel Peter in a fight that went the distance, scored a hard-fought win over WBA #15 Brazilian heavyweight Rafael Zumbano Love (32-6-1, 25 KOs). Scores were: 119-110, 119-111 and 117-114 – for Pudar, who retained his PABA title.
The Bosnian/Serbian got his 7th consecutive win following a five and a half year layoff; the first part of his career path having taken its place in the States. Local rumors hold that Pudar is viewed as a possible opponent for WBA regular heavyweight beltholder Alexander Povetkin. Surely, there is no confirmation from Team Povetkin at this time.
In a co-feature, former world title challenger-turned-journeyman Mamadou Thiam (49-11, 46 KOs) used his diminished skills to offer light resistance to local middleweight Milorad Zizic (7-0, 2 KOs). Zizic cruised to a relatively easy unanimous decision: 80-73, 79-74 and 80-74.
Other male results:
Petar Zivkovic (13-0, 7 KOs) TKO 3 Imre Simon (3-11, 1 KO)
Ivica Bacurin (18-3-1, 7 KOs) PTS 4 Attila Makula (6-11, 3 KOs)
Other female results:
Ivana Habazin (10-0, 5 KOs) PTS 8 Susana Radovanovic (1-11)
