|
World Boxing Federation (WBF)
World Cruiserweight Champion
Zine Eddine Benmakhlouf from
Algeria was scheduled to defend
his title against Alejandro
Emilio Valori on Thursday March
31, but when the Argentinean
pulled out at short notice, Lars
Buchholz from Germany accepted
to step in on short notice to
save the day.
With an extremely loud and
enthusiastic capacity crowd at
the Salle Harcha in Algiers,
Benmakhlouf didn’t disappoint
his many fans and started the
fight focused, forcing Buchholz
to fight on the back foot. While
Benmakhlouf was the aggressor,
the German challenger didn’t
look intimidated and countered
well with left hooks.
From the second round on the
defending champion upped the
tempo even further, and Buchholz
attempted to keep him away by
repeatedly changing his stance
and launching a few surprise
attacks. But Benmakhlouf had
most of the success, and often
found a home for his left and
right hooks.
Just when it looked as if
Benmakhlouf was on his way to
take definitive control,
Buchholz came back strong in
round four and scored well with
single shots. It was clearly his
best round in the fight, but
Benmakhlouf regained momentum in
the fifth and boxed well with
sharp combinations.
Round six started at a high
pace, and Buchholz began to look
a spend force. A body-shot and a
right hook to the temple clearly
hurt him, and he did well to
survive the round. But it was
the end of the line for the
brave man from Berlin, and he
didn’t come out for round seven,
making Benmakhlouf the winner by
technical knockout.
As the fight was waved off, fans
stormed the ring to celebrate
their world champion, and some
had to be removed to make way
for Algerian minister of Youth &
Sport, Mr. Ouldali Elhadi, who
gave the WBF world title belt to
the victorious champion.
Zine Eddine Benmakhlouf, making
his first title-defense,
improved his professional record
to 22-4-1 (12), while Lars
Buchholz falls to 27-8 (20)
after an admirable effort. The
fight was promoted by Mohammed
Kerrouche and BMA Production.
|
