CHRISTIAN BLADT TW 8 Christophe Carlier (France)
Hometown favourite Bladt, 24-2-1 (6), re-entered the title picture - after conceeding his European belt earlier in the year - by regaining his old IBF Intercontinental championship when he overcame French co-challenger Carlier with a unanimous technical decision after eight rounds. Referee Ian John Lewis finally stopped the bout on a cut the Frenchman suffered as early as the first round from an accidental headclash and thus it went to the scorecards which read 79:73 for both Patrick DeVooght (Belgium) and Luciano Tagliamonte (Italy) with Poland's Marek Zuraczek having Bladt in front by "only" 78:74. However, it was hard to see how Carlier could have won any round after the opener, because he ran like a thief thereafter, practically without any desire to win, and the stoppage was somewhat of a relief. From round two through to round six, Carlier looked scared to get involved in anything resembling an exchange of punches, with Bladt chasing and chasing and chasing. When Carlier finally found a little ambition in what turned out the pen-ultimate round, fans almost couldn't believe their eyes! Early in the eighth, another accidental clash of heads worsened the injury over the visitors left eye and saved everyone from another four rounds of trackrunning. "He's pround to fight for this IBF title," said Carlier's manager Bernard Roos beforehand. You would never have guessed this after his charge's non-performance…
Allan Grönfors (Finland) KO 1 RASMUS IVERSEN, Cruiserweight
The eagerly anticipated "Clash of the Scandinavian Cruisers", slated for eight, lasted a mere 109 seconds! The smaller, stocky Finn, now victorious in all of his six outings, crashed three consecutive southpaw left hooks against Iversen's unprotected jaw - and scored two knockdowns with it! When the Dane, who saw his record dip to 8-2-1 (4), got up for the second time, he was still on spaghetti legs and the brief encounter was rightly waved off.
ALLAN VESTER KO 4 Josef Brayer (Austria), Welterweight
Late sub Brayer, though bigger and with almost snake-like elusiveness, lost every round to the classier boxer and Vester finally put him down with a right uppercut in round four. The Vienna man got up, but then Vester cornered him and unloaded with precise bodyshots until his foe dropped again. The Austrian corner threw in the towel, but the referee nevertheless proceeded to count out the visitor to give Vester a rare KO win. The former European and world title challenger is now 21-3-1 (4) and with this win cleared the way for a shot at regaining his old IBF Intercontinental lightwelterweight title on November 15.
RICHEL HERSISIA KO 3 Chris Sirengo (Kenya), Heavyweight
After taking a good look at his taller but lighter opponent, Hersisia had the winning formular sorted out. Hard body punches made Sirengo lean forward to allow the Dutch puncher to showcase his power and he finally caught the Kenyan cleanly with a double left hook, down and up, in the third to leave Sirengo out cold. Hersisia, 15-0 (12), joined Henry Akinwande as the only two fighters to defeat Sirengo inside the distance
LASSE JOHANSEN W 6 Lolenga Mock (Congo), Cruiserweight
The fight of the night! Johansen, in only his fourth pro outing (all wins), won on scores of 59:55 (twice) and 59:56 in a highly entertaining, fast-paced bout. Though both threw a high volume of punches, neither was able to hurt the other one, but the fans absolutely enjoyed the clash.
