By Marco Bratusch at ringside
Yesterday evening at Nicola Pietrageli tennis stadium inside the massive Foro Italico Olympics facility in Rome, Italy, Matchroom Boxing Italy and OPI Since 82 put on their fourth co-ventured boxing event since the beginning of their working relationship in last October. Matchroom Sport’s CEO Eddie Hearn was seated ringside with 2018 trainer of the year Joe Gallagher, along with OPI’s longtime boss Salvatore Cherchi and his sons. Basically the full show was streamed live on DAZN services in Italy.
The card, bacame a doubleheader, was topped by the rematch between Serhiy Demchenko and Hakim Zoulikha for the vacant European Union (EU) light-heavyweight title.
We attended the first match at ringside in Paris, France, where Demchenko won a deserved fifth-round technical decision in 2017. This time the bout went two rounds longer, but the result happened to be just same, with Demchenko won the E.U. belt for the third time even more convincingly. The shorter Zoulikha (26-11, 11 KOs) tried to be the busier man since the beginning, staying in the pocket most of the time and working Demchenko to the body. He also appeared to be the quicker, smoother man of the pair. The short right hook of the Frenchman found a home frequently, but Demchenko (22-14-1, 15 KOs) absorbed those punches easily while starting to warm up his engine and throwing some lazy but powerful counters from his side. A clash of heads opened a superficial cut on Demchenko’s right eyebrow in round four, but that did not prevent Demchenko to drop his foe with a big right hand at the end of the same round.
The Frenchman stood up but was still hurt, somehow finding a way to survive until the bell. Because of the knockdown and his demanding effort during the early rounds, Zoulikha began to slow down in round five, with Demchenko starting to come forward to chase him around the ring without putting much pressure, remaining calm and picking his shots. In the seventh round, Zoulikha felt another powerful right and leaned back to the ropes with his guard high. Demchenko smelled blood and landed a barrage of powerful punches which forced referee John Latham to stop the contest. The Ukrainian-born Demchenko received a loud praise from the 1,500 Roman fans in attendance as he is practically a Roman citizen, living in the eternal city from many years now.
In the co-feature, ten-round contest for the vacant WBC International Silver middleweight title, Marcus Morrison (21-3, 15 KOs) scored an impressive ninth-round technical K.O. over former European champion Emanuele “Sioux” Blandamura (29-4, 5 KOs). The pyshisically chiseled boxer from Manchester showed up a solid left jab since the beginning, boxing with good balance and composure, picking his shots well. Blandamura had a tough start because of Morrison accuracy, but managed to regroup, punching back with sudden, sporadic flurries which did not have much power while circling aroundto find the best moments to attack. The English fighter appeared to fight at the limit of the rules at times, rabbit punching and holding Blandamura’s head, but referee Francisco Alloz Rosa did not particularly warn him. The two men mix up exchanging leather at the end of the third, with Morrison finally landing a big left hook that buzzed Blandamura before the Italian absorbed it. The seventh round was a good one for the home fighter, as he was busy throwing while Morrison took his time. However, tha 26-year-old boxer from Manchester had a great finish in the following eighth round, landing four consecutive powerful hooks and making his foe digging deep until the bell. The WBC open scoring after eight rounds confirmed the contest was still in balance, with one judge having a draw, and the other two judges seeing each man winning, which looked a bit surprising as Morrison looked to have done enough to gain a slight lead at that point. Maybe that was one of the reason that brought Morrison to go out very aggressive in round nine, unloading big shots to close matters while Blandamura struggled and basically tried to clinch his way to survive. A definitive hook from Morrison sent the brave Blandamura in short-circuit and he fell to the canvas. The Italian got up but was in no condition to continue and the referee stopped the contest before helping the boxer to hold up as he lost control of his legs. Blandamura received a sudden medical support with the crowd having a few minutes of deep concern for his condition. He eventually stood up and reassured to fans while also letting them know that was very likely going to be his last performance inside the ring.
London’s cruiserweight Tommy McCarthy (15-2, 8 Kos) scored a quick third-round knockout over late replacement Francesco Cataldo (7-6, 2 KOs) who stepped in in place of Fabio Turchi. The southpaw puncher from Florence had claimed a strange injury to his arm earlier this week. McCarthy used his jab carefully to prepare his action before landing some clean, heavy shots, dropping Cataldo twice in the second round. The Italian corner did not allow his boxer to fight again when the third round bell sounded.
On the undercard, former European lightweight champion Emiliano Marsili (38-0-1, 15 KOs) scored a one-sided, dominant victory over six rounds against Nicaragua’s Brayan Mairena (10-11, 4 KOs), who could likely be his son in terms of age and was coming from a long strip of losses. The 42-year old southpaw boxer still appeared in really good shape though, dictating the tempo with his legs, reflexes and timing. Marsili still hopes to grab a big opportunity for a major world title after his fight against Dejan Zlaticanin for the vacant WBC “interim” belt in 2016 fell apart.