Janik wins the main event, Głowacki returns to the ring
In the main event of the Rzeszów card, Łukasz Janik (27-2, 14 KO) defeated Rico Hoye (24-4, 16 KO) by unanimous decision. The fighter from Jelenia Góra went on the attack from the opening bell, trying to force his opponent onto the back foot with constant pressure. It proved effective, although Hoye was waiting for an opportunity to land a powerful right hand. Such a punch found its target almost simultaneously with the bell ending the second round. Fortunately, Janik took it without any serious consequences.
The Pole entered close range with an effective one-two combination: a straight right followed by a left hook. It worked well in the third round. Janik finished the fourth with right and left hooks to the jaw. After the break, following a left jab, he landed a long right hand and began to underline his advantage more clearly. In the seventh round, the American, once a leading light heavyweight, opened up and engaged in a firefight. He landed several times but could not break Fiodor Łapin’s charge. In the eighth, Hoye tried attacking the body, but that plan also failed to produce results. The tenth round was entertaining as well. There was still slightly too much chaos in Janik’s boxing.
“My legs gave out,” he said in the corner before the verdict was announced. The judges scored the fight 97:94, 98:93 and 98:92—all in Janik’s favor.
After a seven-month layoff caused by health problems, WBO cruiserweight rankings leader Krzysztof Głowacki (22-0, 14 KO) made a successful return to the ring. His opponent, for the second time in his career, was one of the best-known journeymen in world boxing, Ismail Abdoul (54-29-2, 20 KO). The script for this bout was easy to predict: an attacking Pole facing an excellent defensive fighter and extremely tough Belgian, who responded only occasionally.
Głowacki pressed forward, although at times he did so at too steady a pace. Abdoul displayed his trademark strengths: a tight guard, decent footwork and a granite chin. The Pole’s best combination came in the seventh round, when he landed a right hook to the body followed by a short left hook upstairs. Ismail took the punches without blinking. There was no doubt after the final bell. The judges scored it 80:72, 79:74 and 80:74—all for our countryman.
Marek Matyja (6-0, 2 KO) defeated the tough Robert Talarek (6-6-2, 3 KO) in a light heavyweight bout. Matyja attacked from the opening bell and made use of his trademark body shots. The lighter Talarek accepted the exchange. He threw considerably less, but blocked the punches and answered with single counters.
The advantage belonged to the more active fighter from Wrocław, although Talarek, encouraged by his corner, skillfully countered at close range. Matyja ended the fifth round with a powerful straight right, but his opponent had no intention of giving ground. The final three minutes looked similar: a slight advantage for Marek and an extremely ambitious, at times surprising performance from Talarek. The judges scored it 58:57 and 59:56 twice for Matyja. It was an interesting fight, although a little more could be expected from last year’s Polish Olympic-style light heavyweight champion.
After a painful defeat on the first weekend of February, super middleweight Andrzej Sołdra (10-1-1, 5 KO) made a successful return to the ring. He defeated experienced Daniel Urbański (21-17-3, 5 KO). The bout turned out to be better than expected. Urbański genuinely wanted to win, arrived in good form and tried to break down the favored opponent with body shots.
Sołdra was slightly faster, used his straight punches well and, from the fourth round onward, extended his attacks into combinations of three or four punches. A legal punch split Urbański’s right eyelid, but the experienced fighter dealt with the problem and made it to the final bell. He continued looking for a big shot until the end. The judges scored it 60:55, 59:55 and 60:54 for Sołdra. Urbański nevertheless looked better than he had in his most recent appearances.
Przemysław Runowski (7-0, 1 KO) defeated Sylwester Walczak (4-14-1). After a quiet opening round, the popular “Scythe” found a way to deal with his opponent from the second round onward. He lowered his stance and hunted for the right hook, landing it heavily twice.
In the third round, during a left-for-left exchange, Runowski was a fraction of a second faster. He landed on the jaw, causing Walczak to “dance.” However, he stayed upright and made it to the break. The pattern of the fight did not change in the following minutes. In the fifth round, Runowski rocked his opponent twice with a straight right, but could not finish the bout inside the distance. The judges scored it 60:54 and 60:55 twice for Przemek.
Earlier, Michał Ludwiczak (11-0, 4 KO) battered Josef Obeslo (4-17-2, 2 KO) for four rounds, winning 40:37 and 40:36 twice on the judges’ scorecards. Talented Konrad Dąbrowski (5-1, 1 KO) finally recorded a stoppage victory. He knocked Rafał Piotrowski (0-44-1) down twice, and the bout was stopped several seconds before the end of the second round.
Robert Parzęczewski (5-0, 2 KO) competed over the longer distance for the first time. He passed this test of maturity with flying colors. Apart from a powerful right hook that ended the contest and was absorbed by Ivan Stupalo (7-5, 1 KO), he dominated his opponent. The scorecards best confirm this: 80:73 and 80:72 twice.
source: bokser.org
