By Mark Vester
At the Jahnsportforum in Neubrandenburg, Germany, Sebastian Sylvester (32-3, 15KOs) pulled out a twelve round split decision over Giovanni Lorenzo (27-2, 19KOs) to capture the vacant IBF middleweight title that Arthur Abraham had vacated. The scores were 116-112 Sylvester, 116-112 Lorenzo and 115-113 for Sylvester. Lorenzo had his moments but he was outboxed when it mattered and couldn't rally strong enough to turn the tide in the championship rounds.
In the co-feature, heavyweight Francesco Pianeta (19-0-1, 12KOs) stopped Matt Skelton (22-4, 19KOs) in eight rounds to retain the EBU title. Pianeta controlled nearly the entire contest, having quicker hands and a better workrate than the aging British fighter. The fight was stopped prior to the start of the ninth round after Skelton's corner notified the referee that their fighter had injured his hand and couldn't continue.
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