By Marco Bratusch
Polish middleweight Kamil Szeremeta (17-0, 3 KOs) shocked Italian co-challenger Alessandro Goddi (33-3-1, 16 KOs) early, winning the vacant European 160-pound title via second round TKO at Palazzetto dello Sport in Rome, Italy. Goddi came out busy in round one looking to force the action but he remained on his punches too much and was soon counter-punched by a very accurate Szeremeta, who lands some vicious hooks and uppercuts. The opening stanza was all in all fairly balanced but in the second round, Szeremeta landed a hard right cross to the temple that sent Goddi to the canvas. The Italian beat the count but was floored again one minute later from another clinic blow. Goddi stood up again with great difficulty but as soon as referee Victor Loughlin was allowing him to resume the fight the towel flew in from his corner and the bout was properly stopped.
In the co-feature bout of the evening, still undefeated Emiliano Marsili (36-0-1, 15 KOs) won a seven-round technical decision victory over rugged Mexican Victor Betancourt (22-2, 10 KOs), gaining the symbolic WBC “Peace” lightweight title. Marsili boxed relaxed and on his toes in the first round, dictating the tempo. The bigger, taller Mexican appears slow and struggled to land, but an accidental clash of heads opened a cut on Marsili’s left eyebrow. According to the WBC rules, referee Massimo Barrovecchio deducted a point to the away fighter, who consequentially lost the opening stanza by two points. Marsili maneuvering out of his southpaw stance took Betancourt out of balance moving to his right. The Mexican connected with a few wide hooks in round two, but the former European champion absorbed them easily. Betancourt was a bit rough from the inside, clinching and using his head to frustrate the local boxer. Fighters both rabbit punched each other in round three, with the fight becoming a bit heated. Betancourt managed to close Marsili in a neutral corner and the two wildly traded punches, the Italian quicker from the inside and the Mexican wider but slower. Marsili jabbed in round four and stayed away using his feet, but Betancourt was dangerous once he reached the short distance. The referee warned the Mexican not to shove neither use his head incorrectly. The WBC open scoring confirmed that Marsili was ahead after four rounds. Both men landed clearly in round seven, Marsili with short straight lefts, Betancourt savagely with hooks. The referee made Marsili’s cut visited by the ringside physician who considered the wound too dangerous to continue. The bout went to the scorecards, which were 69-64, 68-64 and 70-62, all in favor of Marsili.
Super middleweight Andrea Di Luisa (19-4, 14 KOs) took some heavy shots in the opening rounds, momentarily staggering with a leg out of control, then managed to find his rhythm and lands back some body shots from the inside. Djordje Markovic (3-7-1, 1 KO) forced the action maybe too much at the beginning, looking to close matters but then began soon to slow down. After six rounds, the outcome was questionable but went to a bruised Di Luisa, with the judges who split their points of view 2-1 over the winner.
2016 Olympian Carmine Tommasone (18-0, 5 KOs) won his first fight under OPI Since 82 banner boxing six rounds without taking risks over Serbian Milan Savic (4-26-2, 1 KO). The Italian took control of the center of the ring throwing straight punches and switching his stance, eventually securing a wide decision victory. Now Tommasone can focus on his next European Union championship fight against fellow-undefeated opponent Kamil Laszczyk (24-0, 8 KOs) which might occur in May.
Former WBC world title challenger Devis Boschiero (45-5-1, 21 KOs) outpointed Nicaraguan by way of Barcelona, Spain, Edwin Tellez (12-37-5, 6 KOs), who, however, landed some good short uppercuts from the inside early when Boschiero exceeded remaining elbow-to-elbow with him. The Italian fighter accepted the same kind of match and it turned out to be a pleasant action-packed one. The bulky Central American proved to be a durable foe and did not stop to fire back, but Boschiero hammered his mid-section consistently. The away fighter hit under the belt several times, while other times his shots appeared fair despite Boschiero’s protesting. For the Italian, it is definitely a telling test in preparation of his European Union (EU) fight versus Farouk Kourbanov, which will likely take place in May as well.