Gianluca Frezza, 18-2-2-1, defends the Italian welterweight title December 7 in Livorno against Antonio Mosciatello, 14-1. Mosciatello accepted a fight for the EBU title on short notice earlier this year and lost to Leonard Bundu. For Frezza it´s the second defence of the title he won with a points win over Giusppe Langella.
Italian jr middle champ Adriano Nicchi, 17-3-2, defends the title against Salvatore Annunziata, 15-6-5, December 21 in Arezzo. Nicchi stopped Annunziata in the seventh last year and Salvatore have overall had a tough career with many fights on the road in Europe
Emanuele Barletta, 10-1, face unbeaten Mirco Ricci, 7-0, in a defence of the Italian lightheavy title December 14 in Rome.
Giuseppe Brischetto, 9-1, and Matteo Rossi, 7-1-1, clash for the vacant Italian supermiddle title December 28 in Turin.
Dustin Dirks, reigning WBA I/C lightheavy champ, have relinquished his position as mandatory challenger for EU champ Orial Kulaj. The official reason is of course that Dirks is to defend his Intercontinental title. Dirks scored a terryfying knockout over Kulaj, then 3-2, in 2009. Dirks was then 9-0 and is today 26-0 while Kulaj is 10-5. However, Dustin have in his last two fights looked pretty terrible even though he came out winning while Orial have won five straight and it appears to be a wise move to avoid a rematch where there is everything to lose.
43-year old veteran Gianluca Branco won the vacant EU jr welter title Saturday night in Civitavecchia with a unanimous decision over Pole Krzysztof Bienias. The judges had it 117-111, 117-113 and 116-113. Older brother Silvio, 46, is also still around and there rumors of another showdown against Giacobbe Fragomeni. Both Branco brothers are promoted by OPI 2000.
French feather Sofiane Takoucht won the vacant EU title with a split decision win over Italian Davide Dieli November 9 in Celano. Takoucht won on scores of 115-113 and 116-113 while third judge had it 116-114 for Dieli. Takoucht lost the EBU title to Alex Miskirtchian last year and then tested positive for a forbidden substance – a painkiller – but was never suspended.
SES promotes a show in Magdeburg November 16 headlined by lightheavy Robin Krasniqi and heavyweight Francesco Pianeta. Krasniqi, WBO # 1, defends the WBO Int´l title against American Max Heyman while Pianeta take on Argentinian Nelson Dario Dominguez in a non-title ten rounder. Heavyweight Markus Tomala continues his comeback on the undercard. Tomala, 8-2, turned pro in 08 with Spotlight Boxing and split two fights with Sebastian Koeber and lost to Christian Hammer.
12.11 Euro News
