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The World Boxing Federation
enjoyed one of its greatest
weekends ever with three major
championship bouts pointing
towards a bright future for the
striving organization. In any
case, 2010 is certainly closing
out for the WBF in busy style.
On Friday (Dec. 10) in France,
classy Yvan Mendy (Pictured)
successfully defended his WBF
Intercontinental light
welterweight title for the first
time in his hometown of Pont
Sainte Maxence with a 12-round
unanimous decision against tough
challenger Sam Rukundo. Mendy is
now 21-1 (10) and definitely
ready to explode on the world
scene, having won the title last
summer in equally stylish
fashion against Peter McDonagh.
Sam Rukundo, the Ugandan-Swede,
was hard to overcome with his
difficult southpaw style and a
firm will to win in his own
right. The closeness of the
battle is reflected by the fact
that the three judges could
agree on the same winner in only
three of the twelve rounds!
However, in the end there was
little doubt that Mendy deserved
the unanimous verdict by scores
of 116:112 (twice) and 117:111.
On the same night, but over in
Dublin, Ireland, Anthony
Fitzgerald picked up the
recently vacated WBF
Intercontinental middleweight
crown with a hard-fought
12-round verdict over Englishman
Kevin Hammond. The three judges
had it 118:110, 117:112 and
119:109 for the new champion,
but WBF UK & Ireland
Representative Paul Thomas, who
supervised the contest,
reported:
"Despite the wide scoring this
was never easy for Fitzgerald
and Hammond never stopped coming
forward looking to land his big
punches. The crowd loved the
fight!". Fitzgerald, who
improved to 10-2 (2) with 1
NC, announced that he has his
eyes set on new WBF world
middleweight champion Karama
Nyilawila of Tanzania, who a
week ago upset long-reigning
title holder Kreshnik Qato.
Finally, on Saturday (Dec. 11)
in Johannesburg, South Africa,
WBF world super middleweight
champion William Gare
finally made his long-overdue
fourth defense of his title,
subduing compatriot Roland
Francis with an impressive, but
tough points win by margins of
116:112, 117:111 and 118:110.
'Dynamite' Gare is now 26-14 (5)
and was WBF Fighter of the Year
2009. The fight at the Wembley
Indoor Arena was attended by WBF
President Howard Goldberg.
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