By Jake Donovan
Fanlong Meng is now in line for his first major title fight, having to climb off the deck to reach that point.
The 31-year old contender from China overcame an 8th round knockdown to soundly outpoint Germany’s Adam Deinis in their International Boxing Federation (IBF) light heavyweight title eliminator Saturday evening at Wynn Palace in Macau, China.
Scores were 117-109, 116-110 and 115-111 in favor of Meng (15-0, 9KOs) in a largely tactical battle between unbeaten southpaws.
The final eliminator came as part of the IBF’s annual convention, which returned to China for the first time since 2016. The previous event marked Meng’s first career fight in his home country, just a seven-fight rookie prospect at the time and having since emerged as a contender on the rise.
He had his hands full versus Deinis (17-1-1, 8KOs), who was fighting outside of Europe for the first time in his career in efforts to move into light heavyweight title contention. The 28-year old German southpaw didn’t truly seize the moment, allowing Meng to take the lead in giving away rounds in a relatively slow moving affair.
High drama ensued in round eight, when Meng was sent to the canvas for the first time as a pro. It came courtesy of an overhand left from Deinis, but proved a singular moment as he failed to properly capitalize on the sequence. Meng resumed control, outworking his unbeaten rival down the stretch to preserve the win.
Deinis was also deducted a point from referee Eddie Claudio in the 12th and final round for hitting on the break. The fight was already well out of reach by that point, with nobody but himself to blame for a missed opportunity.
Instead, it is Meng who strolls into the title picture. The 6’2” southpaw is now the mandatory challenger for IBF titlist Artur Beterbiev, an unbeaten knockout artist whom stopped Radivoje Kalazdjic in five rounds this past May in his most recent title defense.
Beterbiev (14-0, 14KOs) will return to the gym in the first week of June following the conclusion of the holy Ramadan season. The Canada-based slugger and his team have openly discussed plans for title unification bouts with Sergey Kovalev and World (lineal) champion Oleksandr Gvozdyk but which would have to come relatively quickly, or at least before his mandatory title defense is ordered.
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox
