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In a battle of
unbeaten champions, WBF and WBO
female middleweight titlelist
Christina Hammer scored a close
ten-round unanimous decision
over light middleweight
beltholder Maria Lindberg at an
SES promoted show in Usti nad
Labem, Czech Republic, to regain
supremacy at the 160 pounds
limit.
Both champions
engaged in a fast-paced, high
action bout from the get-go.
While Lindberg was the
aggressor, Hammer tried to use
her longer reach effectively and
outbox her challenger.
Most of the early
rounds were very close and hard
to score. Only the third was a
clear stanza for the champion,
when she caught Lindberg with a
couple of hard shots to bloody
her nose. Willing and eager to
become a two-division world
champion, Lindberg, from Sweden,
got herself right back into the
fight and scored with good
punches as well.
In the second
part of the contest, Hammer,
from Germany, slowly took over
with faster and more accurate
combinations. Her work rate
increased and she had more
success than earlier and won
rounds more convincing. It was
still a tough fight, with
Lindberg very much in it and
having some good moments of her
own. Hammer seized the deal in
the tenth and final round, when
she pushed herself even more and
outfought her dangerous
challenger.
After the bout’s
conclusion, both fighters
offered their respect to each
other and waited for the
official verdict to be
announced. Scores read 98:92 and
97:93 twice, all for Hammer. To
most ringside observers, the
scores – especially the
98:92-call – were too wide, they
had seen a much closer battle
after all. But still, there was
no doubt about the winner.
Scoring her
career best victory, Hammer
moves her record to a perfect
10-0 with 7 knockouts. Lindberg,
who also proved to be among the
very best in female boxing,
falls to 5-1-2 with 1 KO. |
