By Marco Bratusch

Wednesday afternoon in Rome, Italy, GMG Group won the purse bid earning the right to stage the fight of current and two-time European lightweight titlist Francesco Patera (20-3, 7 KOs) against mandatory challenger Marvin Petit (23-1-1, 11 KOs), from France. GMG offered 25,100 Euros and was the only bidder to attend. The Belgian promoter already released they want to stage the fight on February 16 in Herstal, Belgium. Considering that both men are basically volume punchers in their prime, the clash of styles is expecting to deliver a very heated and battled contest, with the local man Patera arguably to be considered a slight favorite because of his size and reach, and getting a more complete skill set.

Former European Union (EU) featherweight beltholder Andoni “El Macho” Gago (20-3-3, 6 KOs), from Bilbao, northern Spain, has been appointed mandatory challenger for his countryman and newly crowned European (39-9-2, 28 KOs) 126-pound champion Kiko Martinez, promoted by Maravilla Box. The former IBF world champion won the European belt last month outscoring former champion Marc Vidal over twelve rounds in Fuenlabrada, Spain. Parties are already in free negotiations window.

After multiple postponements, the several times announced European Union (EU) lightweight rematch between Italian boxers Pasquale Di Silvio (21-9-3, 6 KOs) and Gianluca Ceglia (14-3-1, 2 KOs), which was expected to take place next Friday in Rome as latest date, it was eventually called off as Roundzero promotions could not arrange the show. As a result, the fight is going to purse bid once again with Roundzero Promotions not allowed to bid this time.

Saturday night in Bilbao, Spain, welterweight puncher Kerman Lejarraga (27-0, 22 KOs) defended his European 147-pound belt stopping mandatory challenger Frankie Gavin (26-4, 15 KOs) with a vicious left hook to the liver section at the end of round four. Gavin, who had tipped the scale five pounds heavier than the division limit, was putting on a competitive fight at that point, mixing his southpaw stance and short upper body movements with his left uppercut from the inside to land some good shots and make the fight beginning uncomfortable for Lejarraga. However, the local hero, physically stronger and fresher, started to pick up the pace soon as an answer, unloading heavy blows to break down his opponent in round four with a Tony Margarito alike sort of style, rocking Gavin few times before landing the decisive body shot. Big things look now to await the Basque slugger as he was already ranked by all the four main world-sanctioning bodies before this contest and 2019 will clearly be the year of the truth for him, engaging at the highest levels.

In a minor upset, 31-year-old Jeremy Parodi (42-5-1, 10 KOs) lost a unanimous decision in Hyeres, France, to co-challenger and former European Union (EU) titlist Luca Rigoldi (19-1-1, 8 KOs), from northern Italy, with the vacant European 122-lbs title at stake. For the Frenchman, it was the fourth attempt to win the major European belt while the Italian, aged 25, was at his first crack. Rigoldi came out of his corner strong in round one, forcing the fight and landing upstairs and downstairs with clean shots while Parodi struggled to find his rhythm and appeared a bit stunned by his foe’s early determination. “He really looks to be a machine tonight” Parodi’s trainer urged his man after five rounds lost, “but you have to find a way to derail that car boxing beautiful and smartly”. However, that car did not look to run on trails Saturday night at the Espace 3000 in Hyeres, France, as Rigoldi, a steady left-handed aggressor with little power, also proved to be able to steer and box with his torso relaxed, changing angles at times during his attacks, making himself not an easy target for Parodi’s replies. The Italian was the busier man throughout the fight and found his perfect place letting his hands go at mid-range, especially with hooks and a consistent bodywork that anticipated Parodi and did not allow him to think. Rigoldi did leave some openings in his all-out assaults but the local man was just not able to time them properly and make a case for himself. The Frenchman’s class and experience started to come out in round seven making the second part of the fight definitely more balanced than before, but it was definitely not enough to win the belt. Parodi managed to land some accurate punches as he slipped some Rigoldi’s blows to counterpunch them, even though the Italian wanted to have the last word at the end of those exchanges. The challenger no-stop action slew down a bit in the last four round but never faded, and Rigoldi appeared to lead the fight well until the final bell. In fact, judges scored the contest 116-113, 117-111 and 119-110 all in favor of the new European 122-pound champion Luca Rigoldi. The battle was very fair as British referee Terry O’Connor was basically never called to interpose between the two boxers.

In Dessau, Germany, the current European super middleweight champion Robin Krasniqi (49-5, 17 KOs) successfully defended his belt for the first time against late replacement and previously unbeaten Ronny Landaeta (16-1, 10 KOs), from Canary Islands, Spain, in a SES Boxing promoted event at Anhalt Arena. The local man looked to be in good shape and used his reach and quick lead hand to dictate the pace of the fight, even dropping Landaeta in round one with a sudden right uppercut to the jaw, which is known to be Krasniqi’s signature-punch. The Kosovo native-born Krasniqi was polished and explosive in his action while the shorter Landaeta fought like more like a puncher-brawler as he could not match the local man in boxing skills, eventually trying to make the fight dirtier with some holding and rabbit punches as Italian referee Guido Cavalleri warned him a few times verbally to keep the bout fair. Those warnings stepped up to a point deducted to Landaeta in round four for hitting behind the head. The champion kept up his good job based on left jabs, ring generalship, and sporadic but well picked right hands in the mid rounds. Landeta became even more frustrated after an accidental clash of heads opened a cut at the verge of his left eyebrow. The challenger turned to southpaw at times from round six and appeard to cut the ring better, closing Krasniqi back to the ropes few times to unload some hooks up and down, with the fight improving and becoming more watchable. The local man boxed more conservative in the final part, with more feints and movements, avoiding to take unnecessary risks but doing so he likely let Landaeta winning a few rounds because of the higher aggression. Anyway, all three judges saw the contest for Krasniqi, scoring 120-106, 116-111 and 116-110 for a clearly deserved victory. Seated at ringside at Anhalt Arena was spotted a deeply concentrated Jurgen Braehmer, the former European beltholder and longtime WBA “regular” champion in the light-heavyweights, who now happens to be the next mandatory challenger for Krasniqi’s belt. The 42-year-old is no longer tied with his historic promoter Sauerland Events after a few arguments erupted between them months ago, however the Krasniqi fight is likely to find a home in Germany regardless.