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Hometown-girl Anne Sophie Da
Costa did herself and her fans
proud on Saturday night,
November 21, when she defeated
Thailand´s Ploynapa Sakrungrueng
to become a two-weight World
Boxing Federation (WBF) Womens
World Champion in Reims, France.
A former WBF Strawweight
Champion, Da Costa did
everything right on her way to
capturing the vacant WBF Light
Flyweight crown by impressively
stopping Sakrungrueng in five
rounds, much to the joy of the
noisy and enthusiastic crowd at
the Salle Rene Tys.
Having fought for world
championships on three previous
occasions, Sakrungrueng entered
the fight with plenty of
experience at top level, but,
while she tried her hardest to
take Da Costa out of her stride,
it was never enough, and the
Frenchwoman was primarily in
command.
In round five Da Costa came out
fast and determined, and put
together a hard combination
early in the stanza which
clearly hurt Sakrungrueng and
made her go to one knee. Visibly
shaken, the Thai stayed in that
position and was counted out by
referee Ernst Salzgeber.
The 33-year-old new world
champion, eleven years older
than her opponent, improved her
professional record to
20-2 (9), while
Sakrungrueng drops to
13-7-1 (1) in a career
that started when she was still
only sixteen.
Promoted by Christian Martin,
the undercard included a
welcomed return from an injury
lay-off by reigning WBF World
Light Heavyweight Champion Tony
Averlant
(22-8-2, 4 KOs), who got
back in the swing of things by
defeating Lithuanian Kiril
Psonko in a six rounder.
Averlant (31), who last defended
his title in March against
American Shawn Miller, is
scheduled to make his second
defense against undefeated
Interim champion Denis Tsaryuk
(12-0, 10 KOs) from Russia early
next year.
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