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After the interesting and
satisfying, but also busy day
yesterday, today’s WBF
Convention schedule slowed down
a bit to give all the delegates
some time for relaxation or a
chance to explore Maribor on
their own.
The
commendable Spa Centre of the
Hotel Habakuk was (as for all
days) freely available for all
registered delegates - and
highly frequented, vibrating
with boxing talk.
However, courtesy of the
Slovenian Tourist Board, a city
tour was offered in the morning
and it was a most welcomed
after-breakfast activity for
many. Thus, time passed quickly
with old friendships renewed
respectively enjoyed as well as
new friendships formed among the
members of the World Boxing
Federation family.
And, unavoidably, quite some
business was discussed as well,
before everyone headed off for
the big WBF Championship Boxing
Night at in the late afternoon.
Although no big names
headlined the fight card, it
still proved to be a complete
success not just for the 2.000
fans in attendance, but also for
the television audience on RTV
Slovenija, who enjoyed some
interesting scraps.
In the first
championship fight of the night,
Georgia´s former WBF world
title-challenger Mikheil Avakyan
dethroned WBF International
Light Welterweight titlist Jean
Moraiti from France, scoring a
close but unanimous decision
after ten rounds.
Judges Per
Hansen, Arno Pokrandt and Darryl
Ribbink scored the fight 97-93,
97-93 and 96-94 respectively for
Avakyan, who improved his record
to 37-26-4 (20). Moraiti, making
his first title-defense, drops
to 12-10-4 (0). Referee was
Eddie Marshall.
Next
up, Attila Koros sprung a bit of
an upset when he beat Hungarian
compatriot Ferenc Hafner by
unanimous decision to lift the
vacant WBF Intercontinental
Middleweight title. Koros, who
improved to 12-5-1 (9), was
knocked down once, but managed
to floor Hafner, 26-11 (15),
twice.
Daniel Lopez
Rivera scored the bout
relatively close at 114-111, but
Eddie Marshal and Brahim Ait
Aadi had it wider with 117-110
and 115-109 tallies. Referee in
charge of the action was
Alexander Plumanns.
Undefeated Libyan
prospect Malik Zinad captured
the vacant WBF International
Light Heavyweight title, when he
stopped Hungarian Attila Palko
in round six. Malta-based Zinad
scored several knock-downs and
took his professional ledger to
6-0 (5), while Palko falls to
23-26 (15). Time of stoppage was
2:55.
South African
Super Featherweight David
Rajuili, 8-5-1 (2), is the new
WBF International champion at
his weight, after he won a
lopsided unanimous decision over
experienced and game, but
out-skilled, Georgian Giorgi
Gachechiladze, 21-24-1 (14).
After ten rounds of
action, judges Gerhard Sigl and
Philippe Wouters both had
Rajuili winning by 98-92, and
judge Robin Reid, the former
WBF, WBC & IBO World Super
Middleweight Champion, scored it
99-92. Referee was Christophe
Hembert.
The card also featured a few
amateur bouts, the pro debuts of
two fighters under contract with
former world
champion-turned-trainer/manager
Jan Zaveck, plus a kickboxing
world championship fight.
***
The full
convention program including a
precise time schedule can be
found on the special Convention
section of this website by
clicking
here.
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