Boxing results and recaps, Oct. 15-20: Silvio Olteanu narrowly outpoints, David Makaradze scores 12th round KO in close fight, Orial Kolaj continues to learn fast on the job

Welcome to Part 2 of my bi-weekly weekend recap. Part 1 is available here. The more important yet still obscure fights of last week were previously covered but there are some relevant fights in this recap as well.

2012-10-15 Theater Carré, Amsterdam, Netherlands

I found this card online, thanks to sportcentrumkops.nl.

David Makaradze KO12 Hassan Ait Bassou

Makaradze, the shorter man, spent most of his time shelling up and stalking his busier and more elusive opponent. Makaradze found most of his success when Bassou had his back on the ropes, but early on that was limited at best. Bassou regularly cracked through Makardze's defenses and actually had him wobbly in the 2nd round. Makaradze often swung wildly and sometimes missed by several feet but his persistence eventually lead him to find the mark more and more often. The 5th round was the beginning of Bassou's decline as he appeared stunned on at least one occasion (from a left hook) but more importantly was getting caught flush consistently when he laid on the ropes, a habit he could never kick.

Over time Bassou's output dropped while Makaradze's went up as Bassou became less mobile. However, in round 9 the crowd favorite Bassou actually gained a second wind and began punishing Makaradze with combinations set up by his painful body shots. His momentum continued into the 10th which he pretty much dominated. Although he was visibly gassed by the 11th round he had perhaps done enough in the fight to make the scorecards interesting. Unfortunately for him he was knocked out in the last round, once again with his back against the ropes. The ropes propped Bassou up and gave Makaradze a target to keep hitting after Bassou was already defenseless. With the victory Makaradze picked up the interim World Boxing Union welterweight title.

Ruddy Encarnacion UD8 Innocent Anyanwu

Last year Ruddy Encarnacion dropped Innocent Anyanwu early and took him out in the 8th and final round. This time around he settled for an 8 round decision with a knockdown in round 7. The 7th round knockdown was truly a sight to see as it came from an uppercut that was practically out of Mortal Kombat. The scorecards weren't close in either fight although Anyanwu proved to be a game and surprisingly resilient opponent.

*Other bouts on this card included a 4-rounder light heavyweight mini tournament (that I don't feel like discussing) along with a co-main event for the vacant Dutch light welterweight title (which I didn't see). Ultimately Karapet Karapetyan won the tournament while Barry Groenteman and Tarik Madni drew for the Dutch title.

2012-10-18 Twin River Event Center, Lincoln, Rhode Island, USA

Fight-Stream.com in association with CES boxing put this full event on YouTube.

Joseph Perez MD8 Chazz McDowell (76-76, 77-75, 78-74)

In a closely contested affair Perez picked up the vacant USA New England super featherweight title. Perez's consistent jab was the difference in the fight although McDowell's superior hand speed and haymakers made it interesting. I felt Perez definitely took control of the 2nd half of the fight. Both fighters thought they did enough to win and depending on the judges they both did. Perez was just unlucky this night.

Thomas Falowo TKO5 Michael Walchuk

Falowo, accustomed to throwing over 100 punches a round, kept up his work rate against Walchuk and slowly broke him down. Falowo stopped his opponent in the 5th round after he hurt Walchuk with a right hand then pounded him through the ropes although Walchuk kept his guard up. As Walchuk was essentially sitting on the ropes the referee could have ruled a knockdown but instead waved it off. Walchuk was furious with the stoppage but wasn't throwing back and left the referee in a tough position.

Joe Gardner SD6 Philip Burnette

Joe Gardner was dropped by a left hook at the end of round 2 and arguably lost a total of 5 of the 6 rounds. Burnette was the aggressor, threw more punches, landed more punches, and controlled the ring. Joe Gardner was a very fortunate man to get this decision.

Richard Gingras TKO2 Dennis Ogboo

The 45 year old Ogboo looked his age from the onset. He was too slow and too rigid. And he was sucking air by the 2nd round! It was only a matter of time before the inevitable happened. After getting dropped in round 2 Ogboo's corner waved the white flag (towel) and that was all she wrote. Ogboo's trip to the canvas seemed to be a delayed reaction to a right hand he caught on the ropes.

Kevin Cobbs TKO4 Alexander Mancera

Mancera held his own prior to round 4 and arguably deserved to be ahead at the time. But ultimately the straight right hands of Cobbs found their mark and put Mancera's lights out. Mancera did well as he kept his head moving and forced his way inside the tall and long Cobbs but turned into a sitting duck once he ran out of gas.

Alex Amparo TKO4 Nicholas Lavin

From the opening round it was obvious that Lavin was not comfortable with Amparo's punching power as his body language was very revealing when he was hit. To be honest I'm rather shocked the fight wasn't stopped in the 3rd round when Lavin took a prolonged beating along the ropes. At no point was Lavin in this fight but the referee let it go to round 4. Lavin took a less brutal beating in the 4th round when the referee stopped it, and consequently complained. Given what the referee allowed before, I can't really blame him. This fight was a rematch from an earlier controversial Amparo win. He left no doubts this time around.

Michelle Vincent UD4 Ivana Coleman

Vincent was the superior boxer and didn't have much trouble shutting Coleman out for the 2nd time of their short careers. Coleman was previously an MMA fighter.

Jon Smith UD4 Dinis Paiva

Smith, a 3 time New England Golden Gloves champion, did what he was expected to do against Paiva although both were making their pro boxing debuts. Paiva was previously a pro MMA fighter and just didn't have the fundamentals to hang with seasoned boxer like Smith.

Toka Kahn Clary NC2 Jamell Tyson

A clash of heads in round 2 ended this bout prematurely resulting in a no contest. Although this feat isn't common in southpaw vs southpaw matchups, each fighter had a come forward style and, well, accidents happen. Prior to butt the undefeated prospect Clary appeared to be having the better of the fight (as he should with an amateur record of 119 wins and 11 losses).

2012-10-19 Palasport V.le Tiziano, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Sportitalia2 aired some of this card while the promoter had his copies put on YouTube.

Orial Kolaj TKO6 Tomas Adamek

Kolaj more or less dominated this fight by walking Adamek down and banging him on the inside to the body and head. Adamek tried to block the punches but his height worked against him and he presented too much of a target for Kolaj to hit. After Adamek quit in the 6th round Kolaj advanced his record to 10-5 and successfully defended his EBU-EU (European Union) light heavyweight title. A counter overhand right was the final blow that convinced Adamek he had enough. Don't let Kolaj's seemingly mediocre record fool you, he's been matched tough.

Mirko Ricci KO2 Fiodar Pugachou

This fight was an obvious mismatch from the very beginning. Pugachou fought nervously and reacted as an amateur novice would that was scared to get hit by Ricci's bombs. This quickly led to him visiting the canvas early in round 1 but he managed to see round 2 as Ricci fought in spurts, allowing Pugachou chances to regroup. Eventually a body shot got Pugachou to quit. It was a disgraceful ending to a disgraceful fight which didn't look so bad on paper as Pugachou is the Belarus super middleweight champion...

Roberto Ruffini PTS6 Andrea Pesce

Ruffini might not have been the biggest dog in the fight but he may have had the most fight in him, and what a fight it was from start to finish. Most of the fight was pretty even offensively, but the skills of Ruffini allowed him to slip, duck, and block more shots than Pesce could manage. As Pesce tired, Ruffini took over.

Manuel Lancia PTS6 Mario Salis

Although a bit sloppy and reckless Lancia and Salis at least managed to put on a good show. Salis liked to fight from range and Lancia preferred to make a dog fight out of it. Both fighters had their moments but Lancia was more effective during his.

Monica Gentili PTS4 Daniela De Musso

Gentili's power and accuracy for the most part dictated the fight. But somehow Musso managed to string together an outstanding 1-2 combination in the 4th and final round that put Gentili on her butt hard. A one sided fight finished off quite thrilling, but ultimately it was too little too late for Musso. BoxRec currently incorrectly reports that Gentilli was knocked down in round 2. Actually it was Musso who took an 8 count in the 2nd round, but was never down. Overall I thought it was a rather impressive pro debut for Gentili.

2012-10-20 Markthalle, Basel, Switzerland

BoxRec only shows 1 fight from this card, and it's consequently also the only fight I found online.

Arnold Gjergjaj TKO1 Mateusz Malujda

In this heavyweight battle the much larger Gjergjaj hurt Malujda with overhand rights and followed up with combinations that found their mark while Malujda shelled up on the ropes. The referee stopped the fight during the second combination series as Malujda gave him no indication he was capable of fighting his way off the ropes. Gjergjaj (born in Albania but now fighting out of Switzerland) advanced his pro record to 18-0 with 12 knockouts.

2012-10-20 Palasport Gianni D'Arco, S. Teresa di Gallura, Sardegna, Italy

Sportitalia2 aired the main event and chief supporting undercard.

Silvio Olteanu SD12 Andrea Sarritzu (115-114, 113-115, 115-114)

In the main event of the evening the traveling Romanian Olteanu defended his EBU (European) flyweight title against former 2-time EBU flyweight champion Sarritzu. Both fighters had barely come up short in world title opportunities in the past. It was fitting that they took each other to a similarly debatable decision. Olteanu was the aggressor while Sarritzu played counter puncher. Sarritzu was slightly more effective when he let his hands go but Olteanu clearly let his hands go more often in the early rounds. Sarritzu dug himself a hole that he couldn't climb out of. Both fighters thought they won when the final bell rang and the crowd cheered. It was a good fight and no one booed the decision when the house fighter lost.

Michele Di Rocco KO1 Laszlo Robert Balogh

Although both fighters showed skill and good hand speed Rocco appeared the stronger of the two and had Balogh on the run. When Rocco trapped Balogh on the ropes at the end of the opening round he caught him with a left hook on the chin that forced him to his knees. Balogh got up on his own accord shortly after the 10 count was administered. Rocco, now 34-1-1 and a former 2 time EBU-EU (European Union) light welterweight champion, really had no business rematching a man that he already took out in 1 round, but that's boxing for you.

If a bout is not mentioned which took place on one of the above cards it's most likely because I haven't got around to watching it yet. In the event that I do watch such a bout at a later time it's still unlikely I will update this recap. My recaps will be posted on Mondays and Wednesdays, devoted to cards that most casual American boxing fans haven't seen or heard of. For available footage of the previously reported bouts follow @sweetboxing on twitter. You may also email the author of this piece at rgbivins@gmail.com