ESSOMBA WINS BIG
Lorusso finds out the hard way how good Thomas can be, writes Eric Armit
MAY 20
MONZA, ITALY
IF you go by the boxer’s records, it seemed as though Alessio Lorusso, 21-5-2 (9), had picked a fairly easy voluntary defence of his European bantamweight title. He soon found out that Thomas Essomba, 12-8-1 (4), was nobody’s patsy as the Uk-based Cameroon-born battler won a wide unanimous decision. Essomba can brawl or box, and for this fight he boxed. He circled Lorusso, popping him with punches while sliding around and under attempts to counter. Lorusso tried to put Essomba under pressure, but just could not pin Essomba down and the constant switching of guards did nothing to threaten the dominance. The scores of 116-112 twice and 117-111 could have been wider, with a strong last round from Lorusso cutting the gap a little, but Essomba was a clear winner.
TOKYO, JAPAN
FORMER WBA light-flyweight title-holder Hiroto Kyoguchi, 17-1 (11), returned to action with a points win over Filipino Roland Jay Biendima, 17-14-1(10). Kyoguchi was looking to end this one early, but in the fifth he suffered damage to both hands and settled for boxing his way to victory on scores of 100-90 from the three judges. First fight for Kyoguchi since losing to Kenshiro Teraji in November.
BIALYSTOK, POLAND
PERENNIAL middleweight fringe contender Kamil Szeremeta, 24-2-1 (8), tidied up one of the blemishes his record with a retirement victory over Frenchman Nizar Trimech, 10-52 (4). When these two clashed in November 2021 the result was a majority draw, but Szeremeta beat Trimech in three rounds in this fight. Szeremeta was catching Trimech with hooks from both hands. In the third, a fierce left hook put Trimech down heavily. He made it to his feet, but Szeremeta hunted him down, staggering him a couple of times Trimech only just survived to the bell and did not come out for the fourth round. Szeremeta’s losses have come against Gennady Golovkin and Jaime Munguia. Trimech was stopped in two rounds by Liam Williams in November. Former cruiserweight belt-holder Krzystof Wlodarczyk, 62-4-1 (42), halted Canadian Sylvera Louis, 9-9 (4), in the seventh round. Wlodarczyk, 41, pounded Louis, holding on tight to survive, to the body. An uppercut in the fourth shook Louis badly and he was also cut over his left eye. The end came in the seventh when Wlodarczyk dropped Louis with a couple of right hooks. Louis made it to his feet but was sent down again by a right hook for the finish.
MAY 21
NAGOYA, JAPAN
FIGHTING at bantamweight, former flyweight belt-holder Kosei Tanaka, 18-1 (11), wore down and stopped Colombian Pablo Carrillo,
28-9-2 (17), in the 10th round. Tanaka was too quick and too skilful for a strong but limited Carrillo. The Colombian suffered a bad cut over his right eye in the seventh from a punch before Tanaka floored him with a combination of lefts and rights in the 10th and the fight was stopped. Fourth win for Tanaka since losing his WBO title to Kazuto Ioka in 2020.