(MAY 11) Last night in Germany,
WBF Light welterweight Champion Rola El Halabi successfully
defended her title after what was described in a press release
that the fight was a "grueling war" with American Victoria
Cisneros in Ulm, Germany. El Halabi also won the vacant
Light welterweight WIBA and UBF Light welterweight title.
Both fighters went all out in this heated affair, and it was
clear from the start that both were prepared to go through fire
to win. The challenger had declared that she would do anything
to bring the title back to her kids on Mothers day, and the
champion was equally determined to not let that happen.
Cisneros knew only one way, forward, and landed with heavy hooks
to the body throughout the fight, but El Halabi countered nicely
with hard uppercuts and quick combinations to body and head.
Regardless of how many times El Halabi connected with massive
bombs, Cisneros kept coming at her.
After ten pulsating rounds of boxing, going back and forth,
judges Vincent Dupas (France), Uwe Lorch (Germany) and Bernd
Hupfer (Germany) scored the bout 97-93, 97-94 and a too wide
98-93, all in favor of Halabi, who deserved to win but
undoubtedly got one of her hardest tests in a true world-class
encounter.
Rola El Halabi, making her second title-defense, improved her
professional record to 14-1 (7), while Victoria Cisneros falls
to a very deceiving 11-15-2 (4) ledger. Both boxers did
themselves and women´s boxing proud, and a rematch would
certainly be an attractive option.
On the same night about 150 Kilometers away in Russheim,
Germany, undefeated Melanie Zwecker captured the vacant WBF
Womens International Featherweight title with a convincing
victory over Grecia Nova from the Dominican Republic.
In a fully packed arena, Zwecker and Nova put on a good fight
where the visitor tried to unsettle the hometown favorite with
wild attacks, but Zwecker managed to keep her off with excellent
counter-punching. When Nova attacked, Zwecker often connected
with a hard straight right hand to stop her in her tracks.
In round six, Zwecker injured her right hand badly but
impressively kept her cool and did well in boxing almost
exclusively with the left for the last two rounds. In the end
there was no doubt who the winner was, as the judges voted
80-72, 79-75 and 78-74 for Zwecker.
The new WBF International Champion is now 6-0 (2), working her
way towards a possible challenge of WBF World Champion Gaelle
Amand from France. Grecia Nova drops to 11-21-4 (3).
