Former International Boxing Federation cruiserweight champion Krzysztof Wlodarczyk (39-2, 29 KOs) destroyed opponent Aloryi Moyoyo Mensah (14-5-1, 8 KOs) in the 5th round on Saturday night at the Hala na Podpromiu, in Rzeszow, Podkarpackie, Poland. Wlodarczyk, 26, in the 5th round, hit Mensah, a native of Ghana, with three successive right hands while he was trapped on the ropes, hurting him badly and causing referee Leszek Jankowiak to stop the bout at 1:42 of the 5th round.
Mensah, 31, protested the stoppage but he was clearly hurt and on the verge of going down when the referee stepped in and stopped the bout. The fight was a mismatch from the start, as Mensah clearly wasn’t in the same class as Wlodarczyk, whom appears to be taking the slow route back to the top after losing his IBF title to Steve Cunningham in May 2007 by majority decision.
Wlodarczyk, however, was lucky to have won the title in the first place, as he appeared to lose virtually ever round of his first fight with Cunningham, yet was given a split decision victory in his native Poland. In the first round of his fight on Saturday night with Mensah, Wlodarczyk, ranked # 5 in the IBF cruiserweight division, controlled the round, using hard combinations to land effectively on the inside.
Mensah had little in the way of hand speed or power, and looked much like an amateur fighter. At one point in the fight, he turned completely around after throwing a punch, an action which led to a warning from referee Jankowiak.
Mensah appeared to win the 3rd round, constantly coming forward and throwing a slow right hand which he was able to land quite often against Wlodarczyk. Although, it wasn’t much of an accomplishment, as Wlodarczyk isn’t a very skilled defensive fighter, and has a rather anemic offensive style to go with it.
In the fourth round, Mensah continued coming forward and landing often with his right hand. However, Wlodarczyk stopped him in his tracks with a big right hand that briefly staggered Mensah, and causing him to back up a couple of steps. Wlodarczyk was unable to finish him off because the round ended before he could landed anything more to finish the job.
In the 5th round, Mensah came out strong, dominating the first minute of the round with nice right hand shots. Wlodarczyk, however, out of nowhere landed a big right hand that hurt Mensah. Wlodarczyk quickly landed two more right hands that had Mensah out on his feet, sagging backwards against the ropes. Seeing that Mensah was in distress, the referee stopped the bout at 1:42 of the 5th round.