By Erik Schmidt: Unbeaten WBA female flyweight and WIBF Women’s International Boxing Federation flyweight champion Susi Kentikian (23-0, 16 KOs) will be making a defense of her titles on Friday night against American Elena Reid (19-4, 5 KOs) in a 10-round bout at the Sporthalle, Alsterdorf, in Hamburg, Germany. Kentikian, 21, faces a tough opponent in the 27-year-old Reid, an experienced fighter with loses top talented opponents Regina Halmich, Alicia Ashley and Eileen Olszewski in the past four years.
In addition to that, among Reid’s notable accomplishments are wins over Mary Ortega and Shin-Hee Choi, as well as a draw against Halmich in another fight between the two. Only 5’2″, Reid will have only an inch height advantage over the 5’1″ Kentikian. However, the similarities between the two fighters end with their similar heights, as Reid focuses more on movement and her boxing ability rather than power.
In the case of Kentikian, who comes from Yerevan, Armenia and now lives in Germany, she is a pure slugger with a lot of power in her short 5’1″ frame. Of Kentikian’s twenty three opponents, only seven have been able to escape without being knocked out.
In looking at her, you’d think that she would have little power due to her small frame and placid demeanor. However, once the bell is rung in the first round, she’s like an angry killer bee, attacking her opponents fiercely and trying to take them out with each punch.
Kentikian’s notable wins are her two victories over Nadia Hokmi, both of which were tough and hard earned, Hagar Shmoulefeld Finer and most recently Anastasia Toktaulova. The first victory over Hokmi in May 2007, was controversial with many people feeling that Hokmi should have been given the nod on the judges’ scoring.
To dispel the controversy, Kentikian fought a rematch with Hokmi in December 2007, this time beating her more conclusively to win the vacant WIBF Women’s International Boxing Federation flyweight title. Kentikian is much more comfortable when she’s slugging it out with her opponents at close range. However, in her closer fights, she’s struggled against opponents like Hokmi and Finer, who both used volume punching and distance to create problems for the shorter Kentikian.
In Kentikian’s most recent bout, a 10-round unanimous decision over Toktaulova in December 2008, Kentikian built up a sizeable lead in the first half of the fight using her power punching. In the second half, Kentikian tired out as usual, and Toktaulova was able to use her movement and reach to create some minor difficulties for Kentikian.
Most of all, it seemed to be Toktaulova’s movement that caused Kentikian to have problems trying to land her huge power shots. However, she still was able to take advantage of Toktaulova’s lack of offensive skills to pound out a one-sided unanimous decision victory by the scores of 98-92, 99-92 and 99-92.
For Reid, the key to victory is for her to avoid mixing it up with Kentikian in the first half of the fight when she’s fresh and throwing hard shots. The trick is for Reid to survive long enough take the fight to Kentikian later on in the fight. If Reid makes the mistake of trying to fight with Kentikian early on, there’s little doubt she will be knocked out by Kentikian.
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