By S. Noble

25.07 - On Saturday night in Dortmund, Germany, Przemyslaw Saleta pulled off one of the upsets of the year so far, by taking Luan Krasniqi's title on his first defence. Saleta who went into the fight a heavy underdog, looked as surprised as anyone in the arena when the self styled "rottweiler" failed to answer the bell for round nine. Despite the urgings of his corner men, Krasniqi refused to move, forcing the referee to award the fight to the Pole.

For Saleta the fight crowned a career which has seen him establish himself as one of Poland's top domestic fighters. Although Golota achieved greater international recognition, he fought mainly in America and never challenged for the European belt. Of course Golota's career appears to have ended with in a flurry of recriminations and disillusionment. Saleta on the other hand looks as though he will bow out on a high.

The fight looked as though it would go according to the pre-fight predictions. Krasniqi started fast and built up a solid points lead throughout the first four rounds. Saleta on the other hand was utilising some good upper body movement to avoid taking too many clean shots. Krasniqi was unable to hurt the veteran Pole which may have discouraged him. From round five onwards Saleta began to control the pace of the fight against an increasingly tired Krasniqi.

In a post fight interview (available on http://www.boxing.de) Saleta stated that his intention had been to weather the early storm and wear Krasniqi down with his body punching. Events proved this to be the perfect game plan. By the eighth round the titleholder was a spent force and was being punched round the ring by Saleta. Clearly thoroughly sickened by the punishment he was having to receive Krasniqi ignored the desperate pleas of his trainers to get off his stool for one final effort. In fact in his post fight interview on http://www.boxing.de Krasniqi reveals that he thought about quitting as early as the fifth round.

The magnitude of this upset can be judged by the fact that Polish television did not bother to cover the fight and there were no journalists there either. Clearly a missed opportunity to promote the sport in Poland, the victory should nevertheless raise the profile of boxing. Where Saleta will go from here is less clear, although he came out of retirement to take the fight this unexpected victory gives the opportunity of a lucrative rematch, or facing a different challenger. It would be a surprise if Saleta called it quits after such a sudden resurgence in his ring career. Photos: AP