Goppingen, Germany: Cruiser: Firat Arslan (38-8-2) W PTS 12 Nuri Seferi (37-8). Light Heavy: Karo Murat (30-3-1) W TKO 12 Yevgeni Makhteienko (8-5). Heavy: Manuel Charr (30-4) W PTS 10 Sefer Seferi (21-1). Heavy: Odlanier Solis (22-3) W PTS 8 Alek Todorovic (8-10-1). Welter: Faith Keles (5-0) W TKO 3 Paval Mozga (0-2).
Arslan vs. Seferi
Arslan keeps his hopes of another title shot alive with decision over tough Seferi and wins the WBO European title. Seferi made the better start. Arslan was walking forward with a high guard and not throwing many punches. Seferi was able to land some left hooks to the body. Arslan land a left and a right to the head and Seferi dropped his hands indicated for Arslan to bring it on and then ended the round with a good combination. Arslan was better over the next three rounds letting his punches go and slotting home right jabs and left uppercuts. Seferi kept trundling forward but there were too many gaps in his defence. Arslan rattled a series on Seferi’s’ head in the fifth with Seferi dropping his hands to say he was not hurt but he had no answer to Arslan’s right jab. It was the same in the sixth with Seferi hanging his gloves at thigh level and letting Arslan have free shots and just trying to catch Arslan with huge swings. Seferi pressed more in the seventh and eighth and the punches he did land were heavy but he was too slow. Arslan’s work rate dropped in the ninth and tenth and Seferi was able to land some clubbing shots drawing Arslan into a maul. Seferi also had a good eleventh with Arslan visibly tiring. In the last round Seferi was launching heavy punches with both hands they were wild but heavy. Arslan tried to stick to he is boxing but at times was being caught with those swings and he looked a very tired fighter at the bell. Scores 115-113 twice and 118-111 all for Arslan. By winning the WBO European title the 45-year-old German southpaw will put himself back in the ratings. He still has skill but stamina could be a problem. Although Macedonian-born the 39-year-old Swiss-based Seferi is known as “The Albanian Tyson” and he co-promoted the show. He has been a pro for 17 years and faced Marco Huck, Herbie Hide and Krzys Glowacki always going the distance. He is strong but slow
Murat vs. Makhteienko
Murat wins the vacant WBA International title with late stoppage of Makhteienko. This proved a tougher fight than anticipated. Makhteienko made an impressive start as he used his longer reach to spear Murat with quick, light jabs and found the target with long rights. In the third Makhteienko totally dominated most of the round. He was scoring with fast combinations getting through Murat’s defence with ease. Murat was getting caught with a collection of head punches and floundering under the storm. That made Makhteienko careless and when he had Murat on the ropes again he was too busy throwing punches to defend himself and two thumping rights to the head put him down heavily. He was badly shaken but made it to his feet. At the end of the eight count he then threw himself at Murat and as a result got through with some of his punches but took much harder shots from Murat. The eighth was a big round for Murat. Makhteienko again chose to stand and trade and a right and a left hook put him down. He was up and after the eight count again he just walked into Murat and scored with punch after punch until a straight right from Murat put him down. He got up and at the bell he had Murat on the ropes and taking punishment. Over the ninth, tenth and eleventh Murat tried to press more but every time he landed a big punch Makhteienko fired back with 6 or7 with Murat wide open and usually finally having to back off under the sheer volume of punches from Makhteienko. In the twelfth Makhteienko was giving Murat a torrid time but left himself wide open again and a left hook shook him. Murat landed a series of rights which saw Makhteienko stumble back to sit on the bottom rope. He was given an eight count but the follow up attack from Murat saw the referee stop the fight with just 14 seconds to go. Murat gets the win but if Makhteienko had any power at all the result would have been very different. The 33-year-old Armenian Murat has lost to Nathan Cleverly in a WBO eliminator, to Bernard Hopkins in truly dire IBF title fight and finally on a fifth round kayo to Sullivan Barrera in December. This is his third win this year against minor opposition but he did not impress. Makhteienko, 29, has lost four hard fights on the road but had always gone the distance. Although being streets ahead in punches landed he would not have got the decision anyway but he lost through lack of power and careless courage. A promoters dream import a guy who does not back down gives 100% to make the fights exciting but cant punch.
Charr vs. Seferi
Charr continues his amazing comeback with unanimous decision over Seferi. Despite his impressive looking record Seferi was in over his head here as in the past the opposition has been hand-picked to protect the Macedonian. Charr was much the bigger man and had a 28lbs weight advantage. As usual Charr just walked forward behind a high guard letting Seferi throw punches which lacked power. Whenever Charr took Seferi to the ropes he let go a short burst of hooks to the body and Seferi was holding whenever he could. The pattern never really changed expect in the number of punches Charr allowed Seferi to throw before coming out from behind his guard to score with hooks to the body and uppercuts. Charr had a reach advantage but rarely threw a jab. Seferi simply lacked the power to hurt Charr or stop his forward march. Seferi was almost too exhausted to raise his hands over the last two rounds. In the tenth a body punch put Seferi down. Charr went to Seferi’s corner instead of the neutral corner so the referee stopped the count which gave Seferi a few extra seconds to recover. Charr tried to finish it and landed some hefty lefts and rights but Seferi ran and held and made it to the bell. Scores 98-91, 97-92 and 96-93 all for 31-year-old Charr who wins the vacant WBA International title. He has made an impressive recovery from a gunshot wound suffered last year that might well have ended both his career and his life. Inside the distance losses to Vitali Klitschko for the WBC title and Alex Povetkin for the vacant WBC International title were followed by a see saw set of results that saw him beat Mike Grant, lose to Johann Duhaupas, beat Alex Leapai and lose in five rounds to Mairis Breidis in August last year. The gunshot wound saw him inactive until June when he returned with a low level win. He is still a name and is being rebuilt slowly. The Swiss-based “The Real Deal” Seferi, 37, had won 18 of his last 19 fights inside the distance but against poor opposition.
Solis vs. Todorovic
Solis gets unanimous decision in a non-event. The Cuban was carrying a considerable spare tyre and was very slow. Todorovic started each round coming forward and throwing jabs but by 15 seconds into the rounds he was on the retreat and in survival mode. Solis was very slow and when he did manage to catch up with Todorovic he was throwing light arm punches with no venom in them in fact the elastic around his considerable girth had more snap in it the Cuban’s punches. Solis roused himself at the start of the last round coming forward with more purpose and putting some heft in his punches but that petered out before the final bell. Solis the winner but he is miles away from being fit enough to face an opponent of any quality. The 36-year-old Cuban needs better opposition than this to prepare him for some tougher fights that may lie ahead. Todorovic is really just a cruiser so he was giving away a lot of weight and was never in with a chance.
Keles vs. Mozga
Former Turkish amateur star Keles gets his fourth win by KO/TKO. Late substitute Mozga stood up to his punishment bravely but after he was floored in the third round the referee stopped the fight. The 26-year-old Turk (BoxRec shows him born in Germany but he was born in Trabzon, Turkey), was a gold medallist at the 2011 European Champion ships, won a silver medal at the Mediterranean Games and competed at both the World Championships and the 2012 Olympics so worth watching.
