Boxing Results: In Lodz, Poland, Cruiserweight Mateusz Masternak scored a seventh-round stoppage of Jose Ulrich to continue a world title push.
At Super Welterweight, Kamil Gardzielik beat 8 David Bency, and at Light Heavyweight, Marek Matyja defeated Ondrej Budera.
Masternak vs. Ulrich
Masternak breaks down and halts Ulrich. A compose Masternak eased his way into the fight, scoring with some good left hooks in the first. Ulrich tried to go on the attack, but Masternak was taller with a longer reach and had no problem blocking or dodging the Argentinian’s efforts and scoring with counters. He was almost using the contest as just useful ring time, allowing Ulrich to take the lead and then choosing his moment to open up and take control. He punished the third and fourth. Ulrich only just got through the fifth as Masternak connected with hard rights. And was rocked again in the sixth. In the seventh, a left hook sent Ulrich into a corner, and as Masternak bombarded him with punches, Ulrich dropped to a knee and did not protest when the referee waived the fight off. The 33-year-old former European champion now intends to take a break and will then try to qualify for the postponed Tokyo Olympics. Fourth consecutive defeat for former Argentinian champion Ulrich.
Gardzielik vs. Bency
Gardzielik gets a routine and uninspired win over Bency. The Pole towered over little Bency and was able to use his jab to control the action. Gardzielik began to use his right more in the third and connected with a succession of rights in the sixth. Bency worked hard-throwing lots of hooks, but he has no real power and is an experienced survivor. Gardzielik finished strongly, but Bency had no trouble in lasting the distance. Scores 80-72 on the three cards for Gardzielik, a former Polish Junior, Youth, and Senior champion. Spanish-based Nicaraguan Bency drops to 0-9 in his last 9 fights.
Matyja vs. Budera
Matyja outboxes Budera and emerges with the unanimous decision. Matyja worked his jab well, and from the first, and was mixing in some good body shots. Budera was slower and just not throwing enough punches. Matyja was able to find gaps for his jab and landed some crisp straight rights, but the fight never really caught alight and lacked any highlights. Scores 59-55 twice and 60-54 for Matyja. The EBU 14 rated Matyja was coming off a loss in July to unbeaten Pawel Stepien for the vacant Polish title. Czech Budera is 1-6 in his last 7 contests.
ITALY
On the same night in Rome, Italy, Super Featherweight Haithem Laamouz won on points against Mario Alfano.
Laamouz wins the vacant European title with a points decision over Italian Alfano. With less than two minutes of ring time in the last 20 months, Laamouz made a slow start, but once he shed some rust, he could use his longer reach and better skills to keep the aggressive Alfano out. Alfano pressed hard, but Laamouz’s jabbing and a tight defense frustrated the local fighter’s attacks. Alfano kept taking the fight to Laamouz and had more success as Laamouz tired, but Laamouz was countering well with hooks inside and had built a good lead and ended a deserving winner. Scores 116-112 twice and 115-113 for Laamouz make history for boxing in Malta. Laamouz fought in England as an amateur and then turned pro in Australia. He won the Australian title but returned to Malta after losing his title on a majority decision against Gaige Ireland in 2018. A shoulder injury and COVID-19 led to inactivity from March 2019 until October this year when he knocked out Slaveya Stefanov in 66 seconds. Alfano, 29, lost his unbeaten record when being outpointed by Lavisas Williams in the USA in June 2019 but won the Italian title in August this year.
JAPAN
A day earlier, on the 3rd of December, an event took place in Tokyo, Japan.
Minimumweight (Strawweight) Masataka Taniguchi halted Hizuki Saso in ten.
Outstanding performance from southpaw Taniguchi has too much skill for limited Saso and wins the vacant Japanese title with a late stoppage. From the moment in the first round when Taniguchi floored Saso with a straight left, it ceased to be a contest. Taniguchi swept the first five rounds with his superior skills, being 50-44 in front on all three cards at the half way mark. Saso bravely tried to roll forward to put pressure on Taniguchi, but that just resulted in more punishment. After Taniguchi scored with a succession of punches at the start of the tenth, the referee had seen enough and stopped the fight. Taniguchi is 5-1 in his last 6 fights, with the loss being a points defeat by Vic Saludar for the WBO title in February last year. Taniguchi, 26, is with the Watanabe Gym of former world champion Jiro Watanabe and was 55-19 as an amateur. He is currently No 3 with the WBO. Second stoppage loss for Saso, and this was his first time at ten rounds,
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