Menzer-Schouten, Kentikian-Sahin, Boytsov-Gavern on Saturday night

By Erik Schmidt: On Saturday night, World Boxing Council/WIBF woman’s featherweight champion Ina Menzer (24-0, 9 KOs) will be fighting a rematch against Esther Schouten (24-5-1, 13 KOs) at the Stadthalle, Rostock, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. Also on the card will be WBA/WIBF flyweight champion Susi Kentikian vs. Julia Sahin, unbeaten heavyweight contender Denis Boytsov (25-0, 20 KOs) vs. Jason Gavern (18-5-3, 8 KO’s) and unbeaten heavyweight knockout artist Sebastian Köber (18-0, 13 KO’s) vs. Markus Tomala (6-0, 3 KOs).

This is a rematch of their competitive 10 round clash in January, a fight in which Menzer, 28, won by a 10 round decision over Schouten by the scores of 96-94, 97-93 and 97-93. Schouten, 31. fought well in the first half of the fight, moving fast and making the harder punching Menzer miss with a lot of her big power shots. In the meantime, Schouten was able to score with quick right hands and lefts to the head of Menzer.

However, in the 6th round, Menzer began to connect with her right hand and took over the fight from that point on. Schouten continued to gamely fight hard, but she didn’t have the power to match the big rights that Menzer was connecting with. Menzer started too slowly in the fight and she’s going to need to make sure that doesn’t happen tomorrow night, because Schouten is a fast starter and she could build up an early lead and possibly take this fight if Menzer gives up too many rounds.

Susi Kentikian vs. Julia Sahin

WIBF/WBA female flyweight champion Susi Kentikian (25-0, 16 KOs) will be defending her title against WIBF light flyweight champion Julia Sahin (20-0, 2 KOs), who will be moving up a weight class in hopes of taking the 22-year-old Kentikian’s titles. Although the 35-year-old Sahin is a champion herself, her style of fighting is completely different from Kentikian. Sahin is more of a technical fighter who uses combinations and movement to get her wins.

She’s unbeaten and very hard to out-box. However, Kentikian is arguably the best pound for pound fighter in women’s boxing right now and with her excellent punching power and her ability to throw flurries, Sahin will probably be in over her head in this fight and may end up getting knocked out.

Kentikian hasn’t had a competitive fight since beating Nadia Hokmi by a 10-round split decision two years ago. Since that fight, Kentikian has pretty much demolished the opposition that has been put in front of her, beating her last seven opponents by either one-sided decisions or knockouts. In March, Kentikian defeated Elena Reid by an easy 10 round decision, winning every round of the fight and giving Reid a boxing lesson.

Look for Kentikian’s power to be too much for Sahin in this one. Sahin will probably be stopped in the 6th or 7th.

Denis Boytsov vs. Jason Gavern

One of the best heavyweight prospects in the division, unbeaten Denis Boytsov (25-0, 20 KOs) has excellent power, good hand speed and the ability to throw with combinations. Ranked #5WBA, #6 WBO, #8 IBF and #10 WBC, Boytsov will almost surely be getting a title shot in another year or two. At 6’1″ 220, Boytsov is one of the smaller heavyweights, but don’t be fooled by his lack of size. He can punch hard and is able to throw better combinations than most heavyweights.

He seems to have a good chin and if he can put on a little more size, he could be a threat to the better fighters in the division like the Klitschko brothers. His opponent, 32-year-old Gavern, has been beaten four times in the past three years, but seems to have improved recently with a win over journeyman Cisse Salif. Still, Gavern will be out of his class in this fight and probably won’t make it to the 10th.

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Also on the card, 2008 Olympic heavyweight Gold Medalist for Russia Rakhim Chakhkiev will be making his pro debut against Bulgarian Tayar Mehmed (1-0). Chakhkiev will be campaigning as a cruiserweight instead of a heavyweight because he lacks size.

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