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In front of a noisy crowd at the
Salle Marcel Cerdan in Thourotte,
France, World Boxing Federation
Intercontinental Light
Welterweight Champion Yvan Mendy
retained his title on Friday
night with a fourth round
stoppage over challenger Tarik
Madni from Belgium.
In a clash of two stylish
competitors, Madni started best
and won the first round by being
more active, but in the second
Mendy picked up the pace and
clinched the next two stanzas
with excellent boxing.
It was shaping up to be a very
interesting bout between
well-matched fighters, but in
the fourth round things took a
dramatic turn.
Out of the blue, after getting
hit on his right elbow, Tarik
Madni dropped to the floor
holding his arm with a look of
terror on his face, clearly in
massive pain. Referee Paul
Thomas from England had no
choice but to start his count,
and it was evident that Madni
was not getting up before he
reached ten, resulting in a
knockout victory for Mendy.
This was the second successful
defense for Mendy, who improved
his record to 23-2-1 (12). Madni
lost for the third time as a
professional and is now 15-3
(0). The Belgian was immediately
examined by the ringside doctor
who diagnosed what was likely a
torn ligament in the elbow, a
serious injury that requires
surgery.
After three completed rounds,
judges Jean Marcel Nartz from
Germany and Christope Hembert
from France had it 29-28 in
favor of Mendy, while
Jean-Pierre Van Imschoot from
Belgium had it 30-27. Time of
stoppage was 1:05 of the fourth
round.
After the fight Mendy expressed
his desire to next challenge WBF
World Champion Ali Funeka from
South Africa, and based on the
very good performance against
Madni he seems to be ready for
such a challenge. The styles of
Mendy and Funeka would make for
another interesting fight that
would hopefully have a more
satisfactory result one way or
the other than Mendy vs. Madni.
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