Italy: Welter: Charles Manyuchi (17-2-1) W TKO 6 Gianluca Frezza (23-3-2,2ND). Super Feather: Mario Pisanti (15-2-1) W PTS 10 Alessandro Balestri (9-1).
Manyuchi vs. Frezza
After this win over Frezza in Italy Manyuchi is starting to emerge as a very good fighter a “dark horse” if you’ll pardon the pun.
Frezza starts the first round brightly but emerges with a cut on his left eyelid. Manyuchi is both taller and stronger than the Italian and starts to boss the fight in the second and despite his best efforts Frezza just can’t handle the African or get close enough to be effective.
Manyuchi loses a point in the third for a couple of low punches but he finishes the round strongly with Frezza under considerable pressure. In the fourth Manyuchi’s superiority is evident and the round is so one-sided that Frezza’s corner is asking their man if he wants to continua.
By the fifth Manyuchi is playing with Frezza but also slamming home a variety of hooks and uppercuts. The African continues to punish Frezza in the sixth until the referee has seen enough and halts the action.
The Zimbabwean retains the WBC International title for the second time and has 10 wins by KO/TKO. Since 2012 he has had to be a boxing gypsy doing most of his fighting in Zambia due to the lack of any action in Zimbabwe. He won the ABU title with a stoppage of Petrice Sou Toke (17-1) in Burkina Faso and won the WBC International title with a stoppage of Patrick Allotey (30-0) and now has beaten a good quality Italian in Italy. He has 11 wins by KO/TKO including 7 in a row now. First loss by KO/TKO for the former Italian champion who was unbeaten in his last 17 fights.
Pisanti vs. Balestri
Pisanti wins the vacant Italian title with points victory over the much younger Balestri. Both fighters are cautious at the start with both waiting for the other to make a mistake but the better work is coming from southpaw Pisanti. In the fifth Pisanti slams home a big right hook that floors Balestri and also opens a cut on his left eyebrow. The cut worries Balestri and affects his form over the next three rounds as his work becomes ragged in his attempts to pull back the lost points from the knockdown. Over the last two rounds Pisanti knows he has the fight won and although tiring he is the more accurate with his punching and Balestri just can’t nail him down.
Scores 97-92 twice and 97-93 all for Pisanti. Former Italian feather champion Pisanti is 11-1-1 in his last 13 fights with the loss being a challenge for the vacant Italian feather title in his last fight in October. Balestri, 25, was in his first ten round fight and will be back for another title shot in years to come.
