Other Title Fights Over The Weekend

Boxing had a busy weekend with world title fights in three countries. Big Fight Weekend reported on Savannah Marshall becoming undisputed super middleweight champion with a unanimous decision victory over Franchón Crews-Dezurn. However, that was not the only bout with world titles on the line. We present a recap of three other fights that had belts at stake.

Wuppertal, Germany

The vacant IBF middleweight title was up for grabs in Germany between Esquiva Falcão (30-1, 20 KOs) and Vincenzo Gualtieri (21-0-1, 7 KOs). Fight fans may recall watching Falcão on shows promoted by Top Rank Boxing, who are his promoters. This bout took place in Gualtieri’s hometown of Wuppertal and he did not disappoint those who came to see him. Early in the second round, Gualtieri dropped Falcão with an uppercut. In the seventh, Falcão fell to the canvas and was counted by the referee. Eventually, the referee realized that Falcão went down due to a low blow and gave him five minutes to recover. Gualtieri scored another knockdown in the tenth, but replays show that the punch strayed below the belt. Despite this, Gualtieri still got credited with the knockdown.

Following 12 rounds of fighting, the bout went to the scorecards. Two judges had the fight 116-110 while the third scored the contest 117-109, all for Gualtieri. This was his first ever world title fight and he is now the IBF middleweight champion.

Get a full recap of the action by hearing Dan Rafael and T.J. Rives on the “Fight Freaks Unite Recap” Podcast by clicking play below,

Manchester, England

Crews-Dezurn and Marshall may have been the headliner, but they were not the only ones fighting for world title honours. Also on the card were Natasha Jonas (14-2-1, 9 KOs) and Kandi Wyatt (11-5, 3 KOs). Their bout was for the vacant IBF welterweight title. Although no knockdowns were scored, such was Jonas’ dominance that referee Marcus McDonnell decided to stop the bout at 0:33 of round eight. In the opening round itself, Wyatt was rocked by a left hand and on unsteady legs. Although she recovered, Jonas dominated every round of their fight. Wyatt took a lot of punishment over eight rounds, which is why the bout was halted. With the win, Jonas is now a two division world champion as she is also a unified super welterweight titlist.

East London, South Africa

Sivenathi Nontshinga (12-0, 9 KOs) successfully defended his IBF light flyweight against Regie Suganob (13-1, 4 KOs). For Nontshinga, it was his first defense of a title he won in Mexico against Hector Flores Calixto. The bout took place in Nontshinga’s home country of South Africa. Towards of the end of first round, Suganob was dropped by a right hand to the jaw. For the majority of the fight, Suganob pressed forward but was unable to land as cleanly and effectively as Nontshinga. There was quality action for all 12 rounds of their fight. For viewers outside of South Africa, Matchroom Boxing broadcasted the fight live on YouTube where it can still be viewed from the four hour mark onwards. In the end, Nontshinga won a unanimous decision with scores of 117-110 and 116-111 (x2).