By Alexey Sukachev
German middleweight prospect Thomas Troelenberg (21-1, 10 KOs) has lost his perfect, innocent record after a minor upset created by Polish import Mariusz Cendrowski (19-2-2, 7 KOs) in the opening fight at Jahnsportforum in Neubrandenburg, Germany. more experienced and technically refined Pole gave no chances to his raw opponent dominating him with clean, sharp combinations. Troelenberg, 23, was almost stopped in the fifth and faded down the stretch of the fight. All three judges awarded a victory to 32-year old Cendrowski. who has got his best career victory so far.
In a fight between two young super middleweight guns, German Henry Weber (11-0-1, 2 KOs) got the better of Ukrainian Vasyl Kliusa (11-2, 7 KOs). Bigger and tougher Weber took the first part of the bout fencing with his left jab and adding right crosses and uppercuts on occasion. Kliusa was definitely less successful but dealt his share of punishment especially with his bodypunching. Some of them clearly took their toll on the German who lost the control of the fight in middle rounds. Kliusa, fighting through fatigue and Weber's resistance, landed several painful combinations in the fifth and in the sixth. However, the local prospect increased his tempo in a closing couple of rounds to end this collision in strong fashion. As a result, he was awarded a points victory over his Ukrainian rival at the end. BoxingScene scored this bout 78-75 - for Henry Weber, who continued his slow rise in ranks.
Two undefeated cruiserweight prospects collided in the third fight of the night as German Lukas Schulz (7-0, 5 KOs) faced Belgian brawler Christophe Dufaux (4-1, 1 KO). There was no intigue in this clash. Taller and by far more solid in a technical sense, Schulz quickly recognized that safety-first approach would work perfectly against sturdy but flat-footed and ultimately limited Dufaux. The German circled around his opponent sticking his picture-perfect left jab to continuously frustrate and punish Dufaux. The Belgian tried to make it a street brawl but it was impossible against Schulz who boxed as V/W Klitschko's third, younger brother against Dufaux.
Rounds six and seven were one-sided as the Belgian ate Schulz's jab one after another. Round eight started with a massive Schulz attack. He just couldn't miss a single punch. When the last minute started Christophe Dufaux was already out on his feet. Yet he went forward on sheer will, ate more jabs and crosses and finally was pinned defenselessly to the ropes, where referee intervened to save him from further punishment ans possible injury at 2:55 of the last, eighth round. TKO 8 victory for Lucas Schulz.
The upset master Demetrius Davis (20-21-5, 8 KOs) strikes again! The American journeyman notched an unexpected stoppage of previously unbeaten German prospect Artur Hein (12-1, 7 KOs) at 1:08 of the fourth round. That wasn't Davis' achievement, however, but rather an unlucky accident that led to this upset result. Hein controlled the first round scoring against elusive 40-year old veteran with his jab and right hands. Davis, dancing around Hein, was able to capture the next stanza avoiding serious punishment, fooling his opponent and landing his jab to the body. Round three was pretty even up until the end of minute two when Davis stepped hard on Hein's left foot who at the same time went down being unbalanced on his right foot creating an injury to the prospect.
The German light heavyweight continued to fight through pain and lost the end of the round. Round four saw Hein being unable to box smoothly against Davis and his corner waved the fight off at the end of the first minute of the stanza.
Another upset specialist Zack Page (20-29-2, 7 KOs) was in a wrong place at a wrong time and against a wrong opponent. Page, who has recently spoiled heavyweight Sebastian Koeber's unblemished record (also in Germany), found himself in a bad fight versus highly regarded Cuban cruiserweight contender Yoan Pablo Hernandez (22-1, 11 KOs). IBF #4, WBC #5, WBA #8 and WBO #11 Hernandez started to outwork defensive-minded Page from the outset. Lanky Cuban southpaw used his right jab to create a necessary distance between him and his opponent and grdually increased a number of power left hands landed at the American.
Page was successful in initiating some rough mess in the second which saw Hernandez connecting with a hard left down the belt; the Cuban fighter was also cut over the right eyelid. From round three, however, it was all Hernandez, who avoided Page's sparse lunges, peppered him with his right and gave him a good taste of his left as well. The American fighter never stopped trying but his efforts vaned in emptiness - thanks to the Cuban's elusiveness and agility. Round seven was almost 10-8 round for the local battler as he connected with his punches to Zack's face time and again. The bout, however, ended quietly as Hernandez never tried to go for a stoppage and used thin safety-first guidelines throughout the entire fight. All three scorecards read 80-72 - in favour of Yoan Pablo Hernandez. BoxingScene scored it 80-73.
Fighting for the third time in two and a half years, Ukrainian banger Oleg Platov (29-1, 23 KOs), 27, now managed by Ivaylo Gotzev, showed no remorse in damaging Gbenga Oloukun's inside en route to the sixth-round TKO. Platov, who was last seen in the ring almost a year ago, quickly got at it working off Oloukun's body with heavy, crisp blows. At the end of the first he landed a massive right and Oloukun turned his back showing signs of pain and forcing referee to issue a standing eight. Moments later another right to his mid-section resulted in the second standing knockdown in 10-7 opener. Oloukun hardly wished to continue the fight but he went on and tried to deliver some heat to the Ukrainian. He found no success though.
On the other hand, Platov found the same soft spot of his Nigerian opponent once again and badly shook his spleen and kidney forcing the standing eight for the third time. Rounds three and four were also for Platov. Yet Oloukun landed some shots on his behalf as well making it a bit more exciting to watch. The Ukrainian showed some understandable rust in his actions but dominated the Nigerian nevertheless. In round five he once again conncected with a punch, which landed between the heart and the spleen of Oloukun making it the fourth standing count. Finally, at 2:27 of the sixth, Platov used his power right once again, Oloukun took a knee and was peacefully counted out by the referee. Platov proved he had evolved into a terrific bodypuncher during his layoff. It will be interesting to see more of him in the future.
Steve Cunningham (23-2, 12 KOs) is the new IBF cruiserweight champion after his bout versus dangerous Canadian banger Troy Ross (23-2, 16 KOs) was stopped at the very beginning of the fifth round due to a bad cut suffered by the second challenger.
The fight, however, wasn't heading into Cunningham's direction at the time of stoppage. Moreover, it was turning into Ross favour, and BoxingScene had it 37-39 - for the Guyanese expatriate after the fourth round. The bout started with IBF #1 and WBO #6 Cunningham giving up his vast height and reach (8 inches) advantage to press action against defensively-minded Ross. However, Canadian southpaw was glad boxing around Cunnigham, avoiding his punches and making sudden spurts on occassion. The first round was an even one.
In the second, Cunningham initiated more action at close quarters and amazingly had some success against IBF #3, WBO #7 and WBA #13 cruiserweight contender. He was landing more punches even though the muddle created on the inside was beneficiary for stronger, shorter Ross. The pattern changed a bit in the third when Ross was more successful with his lateral movement and the American landed less punches than in the previous round. His opponent was successful in several left-hand attacks and looked more consistent, although all three rounds were very close.
The change occurred in the fourth. Cunningham started it big landing several telling blows on Ross but in the midst of the round "The Boss" caught him with the massive left hand and send USS Cunningham sinking down. The American challenger got up but the end of the stanza was almost in Canadian's favour. That "almost" proved to be the crucial point of this collision as Cunningham landed a right hand on Ross' way in badly damaging his left bottom eyelid. The injury stayed almost undetectable till the start of the next stanza when referee Bill Clancy halted the action to show Ross to the ringside physician. He indicated the damage was too much and Ross was at risk of impairing his vision.
Therefore the bout was stopped at 0:01 of the fifth and Cunningham was awarded with both a win and a vacant IBF 200lb title. This belt became vacant when Tomasz Adamek chose to compete one weight class heavier.
