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Undefeated World Boxing
Federation (WBF) World
Welterweight Champion Rafik
Harutjunjan made a successful
first defense of his title on
Monday night, October 12, at the
Theater Carre in Amsterdam,
Netherlands,
fending off
Spain-based Dominican challenger
Kelvin Dotel.
Harutjunjan,
started the fight stalking a
careful Dotel, and the first two
rounds clearly belonged to the
champion. But from round three
Dotel started getting into the
fight, and even scored a
knock-down in round three which
was missed and not called by
referee Christophe Hembert.
From that point on the bout was
fought on very even terms, and
while Harutjunjan was slightly
ahead after eight rounds, Dotel
made it a real fight and was
always dangerous. In the last
third of the bout, Harutjunjan
kept the upper hand, but at
times it appeared to be with
pure will-power.
Dotel had come to win, and never
stopped trying his utmost. In
round eleven Harutjunjan slipped
while under pressure in one
corner, and Referee Hembert this
time ruled it a knock-down.
However, Harutjunjan was not
hurt and finished the fight
strongly.
Round twelve put an exclamation
point to a very good fight, with
both boxers swinging wildly.
Harutjunjan by far scored with
most punches, and clearly won
the last round to deservedly
retain his world title
as judges
Jean-Marcel Nartz, Alexander
Plumanns and
Mufadel Elghazaoui scored the
fight in his favor by 115-112,
116-111 and 114-113.
The fight didn’t reach the
brutal heights of his
title-winning encounter with
Ilya Prymak a year ago, but it
was never the less another war
for Rafik Harutjunjan, who
improved his professional record
to 9-0 (5). Spanish national
champion Kelvin Dotel returns to
Palma de Mallorca at 9-2 (4),
and can be proud of his effort.
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