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On Saturday night (September 7)
at the Saarlandhalle in
Saarbruecken, Germany, the World
Boxing Federation (WBF)
Convention came to a conclusion
with a big WBF championship
quadruple-header presented by
local promoters DOG Eventboxing.
In front of a good crowd at the
traditional venue, Berlin-based
Cameroonian Bernard Donfack
captured the vacant WBF
International Light Heavyweight
title by fourth round technical
knockout over Said Mbelwa from
Tanzania in the evening’s first
championship bout.
Mbelwa clearly came to fight his
chance, but after an even first
round, a fired-up Donfack scored
knock-downs in rounds two and
three, before a third one in
round four prompted the referee
to wave the fight off, much to
the displeasure of Mbelwa.
With the victory the new
champion improved his record to
17-11-3 (9), while Mbelwa
travels back to Dar Es Salaam
with a 23-13-4 (15) ledger.
Only a month after winning the
title, WBF Womens World Light
Welterweight Champion Rola El
Halabi made a successful first
defence by seeing off previously
undefeated challenger Sopo
Putkaradze from Georgia.
The reigning champion dominated
the fight from the first bell,
and knocked Putkaradze down in
round one and two. But the game
Georgian managed to hang on
until the sixth, where she was
rescued on her feet after taking
many clean shots.
El Halabi is now 13-1 (7) since
turning pro in 2007, and
20-year-old Putkaradze loses for
the first time and drops to
6-1-2 (1).
Already a WBF titlist, going in
as the Intercontinental
Flyweight Champion, undefeated
Raja Amasheh moved up in weight
to win the vacant WBF Womens
World Super Flyweight title by
defeating tough co-challenger
Eva Voraberger from Austria.
Both boxers gave their all
through ten entertaining rounds,
but Amasheh proved to be the
better of the two in most rounds
and in the end she was awarded a
well-deserved unanimous decision
by scores of 96-94, 97-94 and
98-92.
The new world champion from
Karlsruhe improved her
impressive record to 16-0-1 (4).
Voraberger falls to 16-3 (8),
losing for the first time in
four years and after fifteen
straight victories.
In the main event, local hero
Juergen Doberstein from nearby
St. Ingbert, passed his biggest
test to date when he
successfully defended the WBF
Intercontinental Super
Middleweight crown against
former WBF World Champion
William Gare of South Africa.
In what turned out to be a very
entertaining fight, the game
challenger had some success with
hard right hands that seemed to
wobble Doberstein a few times,
but the champion always came
back strong.
In round ten Doberstein
connected with a beautiful
left-right combination which
send Gare flat on his back, but
the experienced South African
managed to pull himself up at
the last second and remarkably
got through the last two rounds.
After the final bell ended round
twelve, it was clear that
Dobersten, now 15-1-1 (4), had
passed his big test with flying
colours, and he will have
learned a lot from the questions
asked by the old professor Gare,
27-17 (5). The scores were 118 –
109, 119-107 and 120-108.
In attendance at the
Saarlandhalle were convention
guest of honour, and former
World Light Heavyweight
Champion, Donny Lalonde, as well
as WBF Champions Anne Sophie
Mathis, Anne Sophie Da Costa,
Gogi Knezevic, Lucia Morelli and
Nikki Adler, among others.
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