By Marco Bratusch at ringside
Heavily against all the odds, question-mark Russian fighter Viktor Poyakov (13-1-1, 6 KOs) pulled out the upset in Rome beating the fan-favorite and former WBA world regular titlist Giovanni De Carolis (24-8-1, 12 KOs). The bout topped a Zoundzero promoted card at Centrale del Tennis Stadium in Rome, Italy, before a good crowd in attendance of barely 3,000 fans.
It was practically a one-sided affair, with the shorter 35-year-old Polyakov showing quicker hands and a wider skill set than the local and more experienced boxer.
Polyakov started targeting De Carolis’ body, landing vicious left uppercuts to the liver section, sometimes just a bit border line except for a clear low-blow in round three. The mid rounds were probably the closer fractions of the fight, although it was the guest fighter again that appeared in control of them, outboxing his foe with short jabs before circulating around him to keep him out of balance.
Polyakov went on showing determination, no rust at all despite the five-year hiatus he finished at the beginning of 2017. De Carolis, on the other hand, looked empty and somewhat frustrated by an opponent that few insiders believed being so capable, lacking an alternative game plan and looking very predictable in his action.
Both men used their heads dangerously at times, as referee Giuseppe Quartarone warned, but no cuts materialized nor points of deduction have been sanctioned. During late rounds, confidence boosted in Polyakov action who conceded to himself a bit of showboating, fighting hands-low while slipping punches, with De Carolis loosing all the snap in his punches.
At the end of the twelve rounds, all three judges had Polyakov ahead on the scorecards – 118-110, 117-111 and 116-112 – to win the vacant WBA International belt.
On the rest of the card, Italian super middleweight titlist Valerio Ranaldi (13-1-1, 7 KOs) struggled his way to a six-round draw decision, coming from behind after being floored in round one by a clubbing right cross.
Ukrainian Ruslan Shelev (13-7-1, 7 KOs) had a strong round two as well pursuing his opponent, but then he forced the action too much to close matters, almost finishing out of gas. Ranaldi rallied in round three, four and five letting his hands go before risking the stoppage again in round six. The bout was definitely the most thrilling of the night.
European Union official challenger Orial Kolaj (18-5-1, 12 KOS) won by KO in round two over Georgi Beroshvili (29-18-2, 10 KOs) in a six-rounds scheduled fight at light-heavyweights. The shorter Kolaj stuck to his specialty of the body attacks to chop down the longer but fragile Georgian opponent, already knocked down in the first stanza. That was the first fight for Kolaj in two years, after several minor injuries and personal issues.