By Przemyslaw Osiak
Mateusz Masternak (21-0, 15 KO) continues to remain unbeaten after a recent twelve round decision against Ismail Abdoul (36-19-2, 14 KO), which was the main event of the boxing show organized in Chełm, Poland. The 23-year-old Pole easily outpointed the experienced opponent and grabbed the IBO's Intercontinental cruiserweight title. All of the three judges scored the bout 120-108.
The bout was not as spectacular as the some of the other 2010 performances of the prospective boxer (TKO 8 over Arrami in March, TKO over Jomardashwili in June), mainly because of the 34-year-old opponent's approach to the fight. The Belgian limited himself to "hunting" for a single powerful hook which was not enough to surprise Masternak. The advantage of Masternak was unquestionable in each round.
However, the fighter trained by Andrzej Gmitruk (a former coach of Tomasz Adamek, and one of the most respected Polish boxing trainers ever) was constantly facing problems with breaking Abdoul's solid defense. The most impressive round was the last one. The WBC #12 ranked cruiserweight decided to attack more resolutely and threw the highest ratio of punches among all of the previous rounds. Nevertheless, Masternak was unable to hurt Abdoul seriously and the fight went to scorecards.
Abdoul is one of the most respected journeymen in Europe. Despite 19 professional losses, he was knocked out only once - in 2002 by the current WBC cruiserweight champion Krzysztof Włodarczyk (44-2-1, 32 KO). Thus, Masternak joined a wide group of fighters who did not manage to finish the Belgian before the final bell. The group includes such big names as David Haye, Tomasz Adamek, Enzo Macarinelli and Marco Huck.
Masternak claims that he is already prepared to face his 29-year-old compatriot, Krzysztof Wlodarczyk .
"I can say that I'm ready to face Włodarczyk. I had my first twelve rounder in the professional career on Friday. It means that I already know how to use my power during a twelve round battle. My fight against Włodarczyk would be a "desirable bite" for Polish boxing fans. The television network would be denititely be interested in such bout. a Why should we put it off? - Masternak rhetorically asked.
Przemyslaw Osiak covers the Polish boxing scene for bokser.org.