Włodarczyk, Czerkaszyn and Matyja win in Łomża
Former world cruiserweight champion Krzysztof Włodarczyk (57-4-1, 39 KO) faced Alexandru Jur (18-3, 7 KO) in the main event of Knockout Boxing Night 6 in Łomża. The bout failed to excite. It went the distance, but the Pole’s superiority was evident almost throughout.
As usual, Włodarczyk started calmly and looked for precise punches. Several jabs found the face of his Romanian opponent. In the third round, after “Diablo” made a good start, Jur briefly took control. The Romanian landed several times, fired a left hook and moved into close range. His offensive burst did not last long, however.
Already in the fourth round, “Diablo” took the initiative again. Jur moved forward behind a double guard and threw very few punches. However, it would be unfair to blame the entire fight on his passivity. It is worth mentioning that Fiodor Łapin’s charge was dealing with health problems. Włodarczyk, as often happens in his fights, was not particularly active either. In Łomża, he worked his combinations to perfection and prioritized quality over quantity. That came at the expense of the spectacle.
Włodarczyk’s performance improved in the second half of the bout. In the tenth round, Jur launched two or three charges in an attempt to catch the Pole by surprise, but the bell sounded moments later. “Diablo” won by unanimous decision: 96-94, 97-93 and 99-92. Everyone is waiting for major challenges abroad for him. The only question is when they will come.
Fiodor Czerkaszyn (12-0, 8 KO) was originally scheduled to face a stronger opponent. In the end, Kassim Ouma (29-13-1, 18 KO) arrived in Łomża. The fight was brief, and it would be difficult to find anyone satisfied with it. There was a great deal of disappointment. “Both we and the fans were taken for a ride,” promoter Andrzej Wasilewski said in summing up the bout.
Czerkaszyn started in his usual style. He was alert and looked for openings in Ouma’s defense. In the second round, he attacked and gained the upper hand, and after one exchange, the opponent’s corner… threw in the towel. Interestingly, Ouma wanted to continue the fight. That did not happen, however, and the bout was stopped.
Marek Matyja (16-1-1, 7 KO) defeated Bartłomiej Grafka (22-33-3, 10 KO) by majority decision. The two had already met in 2015, and Matyja won then as well. Fiodor Łapin’s charge started the bout well. He repeatedly got around Grafka, beat him to the punch and avoided his shots.
The Silesia Boxing fighter tried to close the distance, but Matyja had learned from their first meeting. This time, he was not easy to hit. After six rounds, the judges were not unanimous. One of them scored the fight 59-56 for Grafka, which could be considered a premature April Fool’s joke. The other two favored Matyja, awarding him a 59-55 victory. Rightly, he was announced as the winner.
Undefeated Przemysław Zyśk (10-0, 3 KO) recorded his tenth professional victory in Łomża. The Polish boxer unanimously outpointed Artiom Karpec (21-12, 6 KO). The judges awarded Zyśk every round.
There is not much to write about this bout. Zyśk was a clear favorite, while his opponent had previously lost 11 fights in a row. Karpec once again focused on defense. The Knockout Promotions fighter outpointed his opponent without major difficulty. We are now waiting for more serious challenges for Przemek.
Mateusz Tryc (7-0, 5 KO) defeated Serhiy Zhuk (3-3-2) by majority decision. It was the Pole’s first victory of the year, but his performance showed that there is still work to do. One of the judges clearly saw a different fight.
The bout was very close. It seemed that Zhuk could have taken the first three rounds, particularly the second and third. The Ukrainian punched freely and with variety: a right hand over the left, a left hook, right against right, an uppercut and another left hook. He answered almost every punch from the Pole with one of his own.
Tryc was clearly surprised by Zhuk’s fast start. The Ukrainian showed no respect and made good use of his strengths. From the fourth round onward, the Pole went to work. He won that round as well as the fifth. In the sixth, he attacked again but walked into powerful counters from the Ukrainian. Had Zhuk possessed greater punching power, Tryc could have hit the canvas.
After six interesting rounds, the judges awarded Tryc a majority decision: 58-56, 57-57 and 59-55. The last scorecard, however, leaves a lot to be desired. The fight was, after all, very close to a draw.
Laura Grzyb’s (1-0, 1 KO) professional debut was very brief. It was all over after 22 seconds. Two punches, including the decisive right hand to the body, were enough for the talented Pole to end the bout with Branka Arambasić (0-4). A fight without a story. We look forward to Laura’s next appearances.
source: bokser.org
