Marsili rusty on return: Edges Past Szabo in Italy

By Liam Lawer - 06/13/2017 - Comments

ByLiam Lawer: Italian veteran, Emiliano Marsili, 35(14)-0-1, struggled in the early goings against tough and respectable Hungarian journeyman, Zoltan Szabo, 17(7)-7(3)-0, but ultimately did enough to have his hand raised after the 8 rounds were completed. The only professional contest on Sunday night’s card in the Teatro Principe, Milan, Lombardia, it was a treat for fans, despite the early scare for the home man.

After a gratuitous introduction, featuring the national anthems for both boxers, the contest began in earnest. Immediately, the height difference was starkly apparent, Szabo was the much bigger fighter. Using his imposing size advantage, he started aggressively on the front foot, trapping the 40 year old Marsili on the ropes and ripping him with hard punches from the opening bell. A few of these broke the Italian’s guard. Marsili certainly looked rusty early on, but his balance and footwork still impressed, and as the 3 minutes wore on his class began to show, the hard shots of his own penetrating the Hungarian’s defence and perhaps being enough to give him the round.

The defensive flaws of both men were highlighted in round 2. It was clear by this point that Szabo, who managed to stop Irish prospect Stephen Ormond in October of 2016, was here to win, and he took the second with aggressive footwork and powerful combinations. Marsili danced around the ring, but despite a particularly sharp jab near the end to remind Szabo of his class, his offensive output was weak. Szabo unquestionably had the momentum going into the third round. The crowd had its greatest shock here, when a heavy right hand at the end of a combination staggered Marsili, prompting the referee to administer a dubious standing 8 count, questionable as he did not appear to have been held up by the ropes. Marsili survived, and the rest of the round was fought on even terms, but Szabo was well on the way to an upset victory.

Almost in an anti-climax, Marsili took the fourth with his greater hand speed and improved defence, with fast feet at the core of his success. The Italian also landed a hard straight left which the crowd applauded, and there was a sense that the tide was turning back to the veteran’s favour. Compounding this, Szabo threw fewer punches, unable to build on his great progress from the previous round.

The remainder of the fight played out in a similar fashion, Marsili finally appeared to have shaken off the rust accrued. It was only his third fight in almost 2 years, and 6 months since his previous contest. Szabo did not fight with the relentless spirit which he had shown in the first 3 rounds. He was not fazed by Marsili’s power, contemptuously dropping his hands in round 7 and taking a couple of punches flush, reminiscent of antics shown by Ricardo Mayorga. Having seemingly slipped back into a journeyman mentality, he flew at Marsili in the final round, attacking as he had done so in the first. Nevertheless, he spent the final half of the rounds with his hands again by his sides, and although Marsili flitted about the ring unnecessarily, his sporadic combinations and quick jab earned him this round also.

On my card Marsili took the bout 77-74, yet the rounds were all competitive, and few were clear in the Italian’s favor. Marsili was awarded the fight, but the scores were not clear to those without the ability to translate. Szabo once again emphasized that as journeymen go, he is in a premier class. Overall however, Marsili’s glittering undefeated record and apparent dwindling ability must surely make the bounty on his head larger by the second. With wins over Derry Matthews and Luca Giacon, and stints as an IBO and European champion, his pedigree is irrefutable, but a prospect with talent and ambition would go into battle with him confident of victory.