Australian Boxing: Sam Soliman Advances in IBF Title Eliminator Box-Off

By Srithar Visuasam: Sam Soliman (40-11, 17 KOs) was impressive in outpointing Eromesele Albert (24-6-1, 12 KOs) last night at the Melbourne Pavillion, Melbourne, Australia.

Fighting as part of a four man box-off tournament to see who faces IBF champion Australian Daniel Geale (26-1, 15 KOs) next year, Soliman and Albert fought an intense bout over the full 12 rounds. Albert, dictated the pace of the fight, coming forward to Soliman throughout the whole length of the fight, but it was Soliman, with his awkward style that saw him counterpunch his way to victory throwing combinations at unique angles which made life difficult for the former world title challenger.

The fight got a bit more aggressive in the later stages of the fight, with both fighters exchanging at a more frequent regularity. By the end of the fight, it appeared Melbourne based fighter Soliman had done enough to capture victory, with scorecards reading 117-111, 118-110 and 116-112 in his favour.

The victory sees Soliman advance to the final of the IBF eliminator box-off, where he will take on Osamanu Adama (20-2, 15 KOs) in the new year to determine who will contest for Geale’s title. Geale was present at the fight last night and appeared as a guest commentator.

In other fights, fighting for the vacant IBO Asia Pacific and OBPF cruiserweight titles, Brad Pitt (12-0, 10 KOs) stopped Victor Oganov (31-5, 29 KOs) in the fifth round of their bout. Oganov, a former super middleweight, looked very undersized in comparison, but gave Pitt a tough fight, hitting him with some heavy shots in round 3 and having him in serious trouble.

After receiving a hit to the back of the head by Oganov in round 4, Pitt had an extensive break to recover in his corner. From that point on Pitt resumed control of the fight and the fight was stopped late in the following round.

Light welterweights Czar Amonsot (22-3-2, 12 KOs) and Solomon Egberime (21-3-11, 11 KOs) fought a tough fight over 12 rounds with the WBO Oriental light welterweight title. The result ended in a split draw with the three scorecards reading 114-113, 113-114 and 113-113. Blake Caparello (9-0-1, 4 KOs) stopped Michael Van Nimwegen (5-1, 2 KOs) in the seventh round of their bout to capture the vacant Australian light heavyweight title. At lightweight, Justin Medoro (0-3-2) and Dylan Sendeckyj (0-1-1) also fought to a split draw, with scorecards reading 40-37, 38-38 and 37-39.