Boxing results from Switzerland: Klitschko, Banks, Ustinov, Seferi win

By Jason Kim: In the main event in the card, World Boxing Council heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko (39-2, 37 KO’s) easily retained his heavyweight title with a one-sided 12 round unanimous decision over a mostly offensively reluctant Kevin Johnson (22-1-1, 9 KO’s).

The 38-year-old Klitschko looked slow at times compared to the quicker, and younger Johnson. It didn’t matter, though. Klitschko was still able to lean away form most of Johnson’s attempts at landing power punches. This left Johnson with little other choice but to throw jabs. What was surprising was that Johnson didn’t choose to throw more jabs in the fight, because when he was snapping his jabs off, he often was able to catch Klitschko in the face.

Johnson quickly fell behind in the fight, because of a failed policy of leaning against the ropes and not throwing many punches. It looked as if Johnson was waiting for Klitschko to tire out so that he could take over. If this was his plan, it was a poor one because Klitschko never showed any sign in the least that he was tiring out. Johnson fought well in the 7th, catching Klitschko with a number of hard jabs. Klitschko’s right eye was bleeding by this point and his left eye was reddened. However, Klitschko dominated the rest of the fight, outworking Johnson from rounds eight through twelve, having little problems with him.

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In other heavyweight action on the card, unbeaten fringe heavyweight contender Russian Alexander Ustinov (19-0, 15 KO’s) defeated American journeyman Monte Barrett (34-9, 20 KO’s) by a 12 round unanimous decision. The final judges’ scores were 118-109, 117-110 and 116-112. Ustinov, 33, knocked Barrett down with a hard right hand in the 1st round. However, after going after Barrett hard and failing to knock him out, the huge 6’7″ 298 pound Ustinov appeared to gas out in the process.

Much of the remaining 11 rounds were very sloppy, with Ustinov initiating between eight to ten clinches per round. It seemed as if Ustimov needed a clinch after every punch he would throw, and it slowed the fight down to a crawl, making it unpleasant to watch. In most of the rounds, there were fewer than 10 punches that connected for each of the fighters. Barrett simply didn’t have the size to connect against the tall 6’7″ Ustinov, who fought a lot like World Boxing Council heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko in style.

Ustinov had Klitschko’s style of fighting, but didn’t have his power and looked even slower. Barrett fought well in the 3rd and 6th rounds, connecting with some hard right hands. However, Ustinov dominated the remainder of the rounds, if you want to call it that.

After the 6th round, Barrett seemed to run out of gas entirely. In the remainder of the rounds, Barrett looked like a wet noodle, throwing wild looping shots, but often falling to the canvas if bumped into by the big Ustinov. However, Ustinov looked nothing short of horrible against Barrett. He seemed to do just enough to win the rounds, but hardly looked like a top 15 fighter. It was perhaps lucky that Ustinov was facing the 38-year-old Barrett and not a younger, better fighter than him, because I think Ustinov would have been in danger of being beaten.

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Former cruiserweight contender Johnathan Banks (23-1, 16 KO’s), now fighting as a heavyweight, totally destroyed 36-year-old Germanb journeyman Marcel Zeller (22-6, 21 KO’s), stopping him in the 1st round of a scheduled eight round bout. Banks, 27, launched into an immediate attack in the opening seconds of the 1st round, staggering Zeller with a big looping right hand that caused thee German fighter to dip forward in the corner looking as if he was about to fall. Banks then opened up with a flurry of unanswered punches while Zeller futilely attempted to cover up. Banks finally caught Zeller with a big looping right hand that connected to the side of Zeller’s head causing him to sink to the canvas. Referee Bernd Hupfer then steppedn in and stopped the bout at 0:37 of the round.

For Banks, it was a good win and it was especially good to see him getting off to a good start. Banks had looked poor in his previous bout against Javier Mora, beating him by a narrow eight round majority decision in September.

It’s still unclear whether Banks has the size or the chin to compete against the bigger and better fighters in the heavyweight division.

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Albanian cruiserweight Nuri Seferi (25-6, 17 KO’s) won a four round unanimous decision over Tanzanian cruiserweight Joseph Marwa (22-13-1, 6 KO’s). The final judges’ scores were 40-36, 40-36 and 40-36. Despite Seferi, 32, winning all four rounds on the judges’ scorecards, Marwa appeared to get the better of Seferi in the opening round by landing far more shots. In rounds two through four, Seferi got the better of Marwa, landing more shots but not looking very impressive. Seferi, nicknamed the “Albanian Tyson,” showed little of the power or speed of the real Tyson and seemed to only look like Tyson in build.

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Unbeaten lightweight prospect Gabor Veto (13-0, 10 KO’s) defeated Obote Ameme (36-21-3, 29 KO’s) by a four round unanimous decision. The final judges’ scores were 40-36, 40-36 and 40-36 for the 20-year-old Hungarian Veto. In rounds one and two, Veto looked good in throwing left hooks to the body and looping right hands to the head. He was able to back Ameme up constantly, catching him with combinations. In rounds three and four, Veto looked less impressive as he was looking slightly tired and began to get hit every know and then by Ameme.

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