By Alexey Sukachev

From the Freiberger Arena in Dresden, Sachsen, Germany - WBO super middleweight champion Robert Stieglitz (39-2, 23 KOs) retained his title with a hard-fought unanimous decision over determined and strong Mexican challenger Enrique Ornelas (30-7, 20 KOs). All three judges (Clark Sammartino of USA, Andre Van Grootenbruel of Holland and Manfred Kuechler of Germany) saw it identically 117-111 - for the defending champion. BoxingScene had it just a notch closer 116-112 - also for the Russia-born German expatriate.

It wasn't a walk in the park for Stieglitz although he started this fight in style. The German stylist utilized his sharp jab to give Ornelas some sofisticated trouble. By jabbing all the time Stieglitz was able both to spoil Mexican's defense and to frustrate his opponent. He added right straights constantly to get things even worse for the challenger. Ornelas did some good work with his hard but sparse blows in rounds four and five but lost some steam as both rounds progressed. BoxingScene had it 49-46 - right after the fifth round of this affair, which was pretty much tactical at the point.

However, Ornelas wasn't there to be taken out easily. He dug deep and found some inner resources to prevail in the sixth round. Rounds seven and eight proved to be almost catastrophic for the defending titleholder as a pure hell of Ornelas' punches had broken in. The Mexican warrior kept the German fighter in big trouble by pounding a visibly gassed Stieglitz from pillar to post and dealing him a a lot of punishment. The German champion was in bad condition at the end points of both of these rounds but managed to somehow weather this wild storm. It proved to be a turning point in this entertaining battle.

While Ornelas lost his focus and caught some boxing arrhythmia, the German fighter improved his guard and started to deliver punches with his own bad intentions. Stieglitz closed this fight well by battling a sturdier opponent and giving him little chance for retaliation.

This victory proved to be a sweet redemption for Robert (originally Sergey) Stieglitz. Two and a half years ago he lost to Ornelas' brother Librado Andrade via the technical knockout. Both fighters were ranked #8 coming into this bout: Ornelas - by the WBO, and Stieglitz - by the Ring magazine.

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Female super featherweight multi-champion Ramona Kuhne (17-1, 5 KOs) scored a dominant ten-round unanimous decision over tough but limited Bosnian fine Irma Balijagic-Adler. There were no knockdowns, and the fight went the distance in Kuhne's favor: 100-90 (twcie) and 97-94 - for the German champion, who retained her WIBF, WBF and WBO 130lb titles. Balijagic-Adler suffered her first career loss and her record now reads as 12-1, with 5 KOs.

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