Fight Night in Budapest

By Stephan Noble - Photos: Polish Boxing Promotions

15.12.01 -6 rounds at Welterweight: JACEK BIELSKI KO 3 MILAN SMETANA
A comeback for Bielski after his knockout in Nottingham. A slow start to the first round as Jacek is understandably tentative. But begins to warm up behind a sharp left jab. Snapping Smetana's head back and following up with some combinations. Round 2: More movement from Bielski as he up his pace and workrate. Starting to land with both hooks and his right cross. Boxing with a lot more speed and pace than in his last fight. Growing almost visibly in confidence as the round progresses. Again clearly Bielski's round. Round 3: Smetana finding it hard to get in range past Bielski's jab. When he does he lands a few good shots. Suddenly though he leaves himself open to a savage shot to the short ribs. Smetana goes down with an audible cry of pain and this one is over.

8 rounds at Welterweight: ROMAN DZUMAN W 8 MICHEL RAYNAUD
Round 1: Dzuman stalking his opponent. Looking to establish himself early, but Raynaud starts to respond, sensing that he cannot allow the Ukranian to fight at his own pace. A solid opening round with Dzuman's workrate shading it in his favour. Round 2: Reynaud clearly here to fight, as the heavy handed Dzuman backs him up on the ropes. Again though the Frenchman responds, coming forwards swinging. Dzuman appears the stronger of the two, and smothers his attacks. The Ukranian is looking to unload with power hooks although his accuracy leaves something to be desired. A touch of gloves at the end of the round as a mark of respect.. Dzuman's coach clearly unhappy with his man, gesturing fiercely at him in the corner. Round 3: Dzuman not jabbing much, pawing at his opponent and looking for the hook to follow up. Some swelling under Reynaud's left eye, testament to the few that get through. Reynaud covering up, but Dzuman is starting to unload punishing combinations and bodyshots. At the bell though, Reynaud rallies at fires back at the advancing Ukranian. Round 4: Reynaud the aggressor in this round, but Dzuman slips and slides before countering with some hard right hooks to the head. Dzuman's punches seem to have more venom, and coupled with the relentless pressure he is applying the young Frenchman is being forced to give ground. Again a hard round but Dzuman shading it in my opinion with the cleaner shots. Round 5: Reynaud less inclined to come forward now, trying to hit and circle out. Dzuman, hands down looking to land some massive hooks, clearly determined not to have to go the distance. Slashing two handed assaults thrown from the crouch reminiscent of a young Tyson. Reynaud hanging in there, Round 6: A busy start from both fighters, the fight could still be given either way. Dzuman still looking for combinations. Reynaud still on his toes looking to hit and move. The pace gradually slowing though. Reynaud leaving him self opens as he swings at Dzuman, the Frenchman is still in there though and still firing back. Dzuman always busy, always pressing. Reynaud driving an occasional uppercut through the guard. Dzuman looking a little ragged now, lacking the crispness of his earlier punching. Round 7: Dzuman needing to sharpen his work up now. The last round saw him looking just a little ragged. Reynaud on the other hand needs to up his work rate. Dzuman appears to be cut though, but not badly since the cut man is showing no urgency. Last round here in a tight battle. Dzuman needs to pressurize Reynaud so that he can't get set. Reynaud caught with a savage uppercut. Both men showing good defensive skills. Reynaud still under pressure but fighting back as the round finishes. A tough call, but Dzuman shading it in a tight decision.

4 rounds at Middleweight: SERGIEJ MARCZUK W 4 MIKE ALGOET
The Belgian looking aggressive and pumped up for this contest. Marczuk unphased by it all, forcing his opponent back with his jab. Both men tumble to the canvas, but Marczuk takes the count. He's floored again almost straight away, but is up and smiling. As Alfgoet runs in he's floored himself by a right hand from the Ukranian. Still anyone's fight. Round 2: The Belgian trying to rough his opponent up. The Belgian starting to get caught. Getting backed up by Marczuk's jab and combinations. Round 3: Torrid stuff so far, the question is if the pace can be sustained. A very even round, both men landing Alfgoet tending to throw single shots. Round 4: The Belgian bleeding heavily from the nose, which appears to be broken. Wild from Alfgoet he's getting caught more and more on the way in, but at the end of the round he thinks he done enough to win. Very close call, but the decision goes to Marczuk.

6 rounds at Juniorwelterweight: AGNIESZKA RYLIK Tko 4 SILVIA LEON
Six rounds at lightweight for the Polish world champion. Agnieszka straight into the attack backing her opponent into the ropes. Scoring with both hands, but Leon circles away and survives behind a high guard. The Spaniard will have to start throwing more in order to have a chance. Round 2: Rylik picking her opponent off, boxing well on the front foot. The Spaniard getting some clean shots that are testing her chin, but showing little boxing ability under the champion's constant pressure. Round 3: Rylik winging in hooks while her opponent is having to hang on for dear life. At several points Leon simply grabbed her opponent and clung to her, to avoid a knockout. Her nose also appears to be broken, which prompts her corner to stop the fight. Rylik never in any difficulty.

4 rounds at Middleweight: SZABOLCS RIMOVSZKY W 4 PIATKOWSKI
Four rounds at middleweight for the Hungarian puncher. Rimovsky head hunting with big hooks. The Pole firing with fast combinations, but bleeding from the nose. Probably an even round although Piatkowski was busier than the Hungarian. Round 2: Piatkowski starting to press Rimovsky hard, but taking punches on the way in. Piatkowski under pressure at the end of the round, but certainly doing a lot of work. Round 3: Rimovsky coming out fast, punching hard with both hands. Piatkowski looks hurt, but slips away and counters. He's simply shipping too many punches. The Pole rallies hard, but Rimovsky keeps coming forward. He looks hurt again, but keeps ducking and diving and survives the onrushing Hungarian. Round 4: Piatkowski has to keep moving, but he is under terrible pressure. Rimovsky is relentless, but gets hit hard and a furious exchange follws. Piatkowski almost exhausted now, taking a lot of punishment., but is saved by the bell. A win for Rimovsky but not as easy as he perhaps expected.

8 rounds at Middleweight: RAYMOND JOVAL W 8 JOSEPH NGANDU
Eight rounds at middleweight, the Benelux champ looks far stronger than his opponent. Joval starting a little tentatively, slipping on the canvas. A slow opening round Joval finding it difficult to get his punches off. Round 2: Joval looking more focused this round, punching a little more crisply. Ngandu a lean lanky boxer, trying to keep him at range. Joval still appears to be having trouble keeping his feet and appears to be becoming frustrated. Round 3: The fight becoming very scrappy, with neither fighter able to land cleanly. The Kenyan tying Joval up and forcing him to fight on the inside, which he doesn't seem to enjoy. Round 4: Joval hitting a lot of air, but getting through a little more frequently. For the first time the Kenyan is backing up, but Joval slips and loses some of that momentum. Finally a good body shot goes through and Ngandu is dropped. Joval presses hard, but is still tending to swing rather than pick his shots and Ngandu survives the round. Round 5: Joval with one boot now taped together tries to pick up where he left off. Ngandu us fighting back though, hitting and moving and frustrating Joval. The Dutchman is clearly the bigger hitter, and staggers the Kenyan once or twice with his hooks. Round 6: Joval pressing hard and suddenly Ngandu looks very tired. The Kenyan backing off his opponent fast. Still finding the energy to return fire as Joval presses him. Round 7: The Kenyan again going walkabout, while Joval tries to cut off the ring. In the exchanges Joval receives a small cut above his left eye. Round 8: The Kenyan can see a way out, but Joval starts to open up and floors him with a flurry of punches. Joval is banging and barging now, using his shoulders to stop Ngandu . Right at the bell he rocks the Kenyan with a big right hand, but the Kenyan hangs on to end the round on his feet. Joval a clear points winner though..

4 rounds at Lightweight: ZOLTAN SURMAN W 4 PETER TAKAC
Four rounds at lightweight. The Hungarian obviously popular with the Budapest crowd. Scrappy opening round, both fighters becoming entangled frequently. Fairly even at this stage. The Hungarian the better boxer, but being drawn into a scrap. Round 2: Surman looser now and lands a big hook that shakes his opponent. The Slovak diving in and looking a little outclassed. Taking hard shots upstairs and downstairs Zubko seems content to hit and hold. Round 3: Again the clean work coming from Surman Zubko simply swinging from a clinch. At times he seems keener to hold on than punch. Last round of an untidy bout. Zubko seems determined to survive. Still the gritty akward fighter that needs to be beaten if Surman wants to challenge for title honours. Zubko complaining of being hit low, but continuing his wrestling and holding and surving until the end of the round. Surman a popular winner in his hometown.

8 rounds at Superwelterweight: MIHALY KOTAI W 8 JULIO CESAR SOTO
The Tornado that is Kotai is set to hit Soto with everything in the early rounds, as he always does. Fighting in front of his home crowd the Hungarian will want to put on a real show. Eight rounds at super-welterweight. Kotai comes out like a train, with big shots Soto is backing up straight away, but proves he can take a good shot. Just as well as he took several in that first round alone. Second round: Kotai as always looking for the knockout. Soto trying to keep him at bay with the jab. At times Soto almost turns himself round he swings so hard. Kotai with his in and out style, launching two fisted attacks, but pacing himself. Third round: Kotai more patient now, seting his opponent up for the counter-punch. The Dominican is hanging in there, taking what's thrown at him. Kotai having more success now, landing some telling hooks. Kotai in control of the round, and looking for the KO. Fourth round: Kotai really looking to finish this. Landing some big, big shots which have the Dominican rocking and reeling. Soto uses his experience and gets on his bike. Kotai pressing forward relentlessly though. Fifth round: Kotai boxing a little more in this round, using his jab to pile up the points. The body punching is beginning to tell on the Dominican, as the bounce goes out of his legs. Sixth round: Kotai with his right hand cocked, looking for the opportunity to detonate it on his opponents chin. Soto sucks up the punches and keeps on coming. Kotai with fast hands landing to the head and body, Soto's only reply is his jab. He keeps flicking it out more in hope than expectation of actually hitting the fast moving Magyar. Round 7: Soto has outlasted most people's expectations, still punching away at the start of the seventh. Having said that, Kotai is hitting him hard and often. Unfortunately Kotai drops his mouth guard giving Soto some respite. Soto seems to fancy himself a bit more now and even stages a brief rally. Final round, which is unfamiliar territory for Kotai, who is used to finishing his job early in the evening rather than late. Kotai still punching hard and fast, backing Soto up onto the ropes. The Dominican showing great heart, hanging in there even though he's clearly hurt.. Soto survives though, which was probably about the limit of his ambitions at the start of the evening. Kotai winning every single round without question.

4 rounds at Bantamweight: BETTINA CSABI W 4 CRISTINA GUTIERREZ
Four rounds at featherweight Csabi the busier here, Gutierrez looking a little heavier and slower round the ring. Neither one showing great technical ability, although Csabi is attempting to jab and move. Gutierrez is too slow to catch her unless Csabi choses to stand and trade punches. Three rounds of relatively unispiring action, Csabi boxing to the best of her ability, suddenly lands a solid combination and drops the Spaniard. Although Gutierrez tried hard, her attacks were limited to clum

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JOVAL AND KOTAI LOOKING TO IMPRESS IN BUDAPEST

14.12 - Although they share top-billing on the last Polish Boxing Promotion show of the year in Budapest, Hungary on December 14, the respective careers of Fight Production stablemates Raymond "Hallelujah" Joval and Mihaly KOtai are certainly at different stages - at least for the time being. In short: Joval is where Kotai wants to be some day.

Reigning as the IBO world middleweight champion (after a short stint in 1999 as the WBU titleholder) since dethroning South African Mpush Makambi in September 2000, Dutchman Joval has firmly established himself as one of the top 160 pounders in the world. Trained by the well-respected Eric van den Berg, Joval, from Amsterdam, has successfully defended his crown twice this year to improve his overall record to an impressive 27-2 (14). Sandwiched between those defences against Australian Sam Soliman and - in a rematch of their first classic - Makambi was a homecoming fight of sort in Paramaribo, Surinam last April, in which Joval stopped Brazilian Roberto Martins in eight rounds. Now, after seeing compatriot Fighting Nordin getting knocked out and with it an all-Dutch superfight, at least for the moment, disappearing, Joval is hungry to get back into action. Scheduled for eight rounds, he will meet Kenyan Joseph Ngandu in Budapest, who recently took highly-rated former WBC world title challenger Michael Rask the distance. "Training has gone well and I want to close the year with an impressive performance," said Joval, who is described by manager Olaf Schroeder as the "ultimate professional" and hopes to again defend his title early in 2002.

In contrast, Mihaly Kotai is still in the formative stages of his career, but has impressed many observers in his busy 2001 campaign. The third hometown appearance for the Budapest favourite will be his 12th fight of the year - and what a year it was for the superwelterweight prospect. The hard-punching Kotai, lifted his pro log to 13-0 (9), became a household name in Hungarian boxing thanks to his exiting knockout power and finally captured a European ranking in less than 12 months of professional fighting. Now he will share top-of-the-bill status with one of the world's best middleweights and Kotai's competitive nature dictates that he will have a go at outshining Raymond Joval. To achieve this, Kotai plans to inflict some serious damage on his experienced Dominican opponent Julio Cesar Soto, 10-14-2 (6), in a fight that is also scheduled for eight rounds. So it appears that manager Schroeder is fast starting to find himself in a catch-22 situation when it comes to Kotai's career. "We know that Mihaly can stretch anybody he hits cleanly and therefore I am always happy when he has to go some rounds to further improve his technical skills. On the other hand, his take-no-prisoners go-for-broke attitude is what makes him so attractive," explains his German manager.

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