Richel Hersisia Wins National Title

15.02 - WBA Central American heavyweight champion; Richel Hersisia, won the vacant Dutch championship Friday night in Leeuwarden, Holland, when he stopped Romanian Patriche Costel in the second round. Costel was approved by the Dutch federation as the opponent in this ten-rounder, due to the lack of a Dutch co-challenger, but could not win the title.

The first round of the fight was actually pretty competitive, as Hersisia had to addapt to Costel´s southpaw stance, something he wasnt aware of before the fight. "Nobody told us he was a southpaw, but Richel handled the situation like he was supposed to, and got him out of there in the second without any problems" said manager Olaf Schröder immediately after the bout.

In the second round, 28 year old Hersisia scored three impressive knockdowns, all from bodyshots, and the referee stopped the fight and awarded the home-boy a TKO victory. This was only the fourth time Hersisia fought in Holland, in a career that has now brought him to a 17-0 (14) record, and two minor championships.

In his previous fight, Hersisia beat Argentinean Eduardo Sandivares (then 12-1), also in the second round, to lift the WBA C/A title. That fight was staged on the boxer´s birth island of Curacao, and Hersisia will most likely fight on Barbados in April, ironically continuing his climp up the European rankings in the Carribean.