IBF Middleweight Champion Sebastian Sylvester (34-3-1, 16 KOs) made a successful defence of his title on Saturday night when he outclassed
Mahir Oral (28-3-2, 11 KOs) in front of 4,600 fans in Rostock. The Hurricane knocked his opponent down three times to clinch a unanimous points victory, with the judges scoring the bout 119-106, 117-107 and 117-107. “I am pleased with my performance,” Sylvester said. “I knew I had to catch him to the body. Our game plan worked very well..”
The first four rounds were rather open, despite Sylvester suffering a deep cut above his right eye following an accidental clash of heads. The
turning point came in the fourth round when he wobbled Oral with big shots to the head and then followed it up with impressive series of punches for almost two minutes. However, Oral – nicknamed the Lion – refused to go down and somehow survived. “I have never seen Sebastian
firing so many explosive shots,” promoter Kalle Sauerland lauded. “His punching frequency was very impressive. I think overall the performance today was his best ever.”
Sylvester remained in full control in the following and eventually knocked Oral down in the eighth and ninth with heavy body shots – just
like in the eleventh round. But Oral got back up and survived until the end. “His body shots really killed me,” he said afterwards. “I am very
tall for a middleweight so I am quite open to body shots. He fought very well and deserved to win. I am obviously very, very disappointed.” Said Chris Meyer, General Manager of Team Sauerland: “Sebastian really put on a fantastic performance today. He was in full control throughout and fought very cleverly. But I take my hat off to Mahir who showed his lion heart today.”
On the undercard, WBA, WBC & WBO female welterweight champion Cecilia Braekhus clinched her 15th win in as many fights, destroying Mikaela Lauren – BoxRec´s number two ranked fighter (6-1, 1 KO) – in seven one-sided rounds. The First Lady displayed her superior boxing skills from the first bell, constantly hitting her Swedish opponent with her jab, her strong right and body shots. In the seventh, two right uppercuts followed by a left sent Lauren down. She scrambled back to her feet but the referee called the bout off. “This was a great win for me,” Braekhus said. “I want to keep improving, keep winning titles and defend my collection against the best fighters out there.”
Heavyweight hopeful Kubrat Pulev (9-0, 5 KOs) also clinched an impressive point victory over Dominick Guinn (33-7-1, 22 KOs), leaving the experienced American no chance during eight rounds.