Micki Nielsen (17-0, 12 KOs) continues his ascent to the top of the cruiserweight division. The 21-year-old Dane dominated Julio Cesar Dos Santos (27-4, 24 KOs) last night at the Arena Nord in Frederikshavn, Denmark to claim the WBC International title.
Nielsen proved he is much more than just a power-puncher with an impressive performance against the 37-year-old Brazilian. After ten rounds of action, the Albertslund-boxer was ahead on all three of the judge’s scorecards (100-91, 100-90 and 99-91).
‘’Dos Santos was a tough opponent,’’ said Nielsen. ‘’He is an experienced guy, who boxed with a high guard and made himself difficult to hit. But when I did get to him, I hurt him. I think I was close to stopping him a few times.
‘’I was a little disappointed I didn’t get the knockout, but I’m still happy with my performance. My preparation for this fight was perfect. My coach Joey Gamache had a great game plan for me. This fight was another step up for me, and now I’m ready to take more.’’
In the evening’s second title fight, Swedish southpaw Anthony Yigit (12-0-1, 4 KOs) stopped Kim Poulsen (26-2, 7 KOs) with a six-round masterclass to claim the WBC Baltic Welterweight title.
Yigit outworked and outclassed his Danish opponent. Poulsen was floored by a vicious body shot in the fifth-round, before an explosive uppercut put an end to the action in the sixth.
‘’Kim is a good boxer, but tonight I proved I’m a level above,’’ said Yigit. ‘’He couldn’t handle my power or my pace. This is my second win in Denmark against Danish opposition. It was an important victory for me. Now, I want the big fights, and I want to challenge for the big titles.’’
Dennis Ceylan (13-0-1, 7 KOs) was back to his best with a seventh round stoppage of Cristian Montilla (6-4-1, 3 KOs). Rising star Abdul Khattab (10-0, 3 KO) battled to a points victory over the experienced Alexey Ribchev (19-12-1, 6 KOs). Danish lightweight Rashid Kassem (7-0, 4 KOs) maintained his unbeaten record with a second-round stoppage of Gyula Tallosi (5-2, 4 KOs)).
Norwegian talents Kai Robin Havnaa (2-0, 1 KO), Simen Smaadal (9-1, 4 KOs) and Alexander Hagen (6-1, 2 KOs) all scored knockout victories, while Tim-Robin Lihaug (10-1, 5 KOs) outpointed Ugandan southpaw Farouk Daku (18-7-1, 9 KOs) in a tactical eight-round encounter, and Ghanaian lightweight star Richard Commey (20-0, 18 KOs) improved to 20-0 with a fourth-round technical knockout victory over Mikheil Avakyan (27-19-4, 12 KOs).
