By Alex Hermann at ringside
James DeGale (12-1, 9 KOs) retained his European super middleweight title with a fourth round knockout over mandatory challenger Cristian Sanavia (45-6-1, 13 KOs) in Frederikshavn, Denmark, Saturday night. Sanavia started aggressive and won the first round, and in round three he knocked DeGale down, but the referee didn’t count. In round four Sanavia was knocked down four times, and the fight was correctly stopped. Time 2:58.
Danish prospect Patrick Nielsen (14-0, 8 KOs) scored 10th round knockout against Gaston Vega (17-5, 6 KOs) to win the WBA I/C middleweight title. It was a tough and dirty fight, where both fighters were down several times that ended with a brutal knockout. In round two both fighters got a point deducted. Nielsen hits Vega after the bell, and Vega took a dive. The referee took a point away from both fighters after this. Nielsen won the rounds and in round seven Vega was down after a left to the chin. In round eight both fighters scored knockdowns. Two left hands to the chin ended the fight in round ten in favour of Nielsen.
Andreas Evensen (16-2-1, 6 KOs) got the biggest win in his career, when he Saturday night won the vacant WBA I/C featherweight title against Ireland’s Willie Casey (13-2, 9 KOs). It was a very tough fights with Evensen landing the most shots, while Casey landed the finest and hardest shots. Evensen looked a bit tired after four, and he received too many shots. After 12 toe-to-toe rounds both fighters felt they deserved the victory. Two judges had it 115-113 for Evensen, while the last one scored it 114-114. This writer saw the fight as a draw.
On the undercard Reda Zam Zam (25-1, 12 KOs) scored his second KO win after his comeback. Czech Bronislav Kubin was down in rounds three and five and was stopped at 2.59 in round five.
Undefeated light heavy prospect Erik Skoglund (9-0, 5 KO) scored a fine second round KO win against Italian Alberto Antenucci (3-4, 0 KO). Antenucci was knocked brutally down, and the fight was stopped before he was counted out.
Junior middleweight Torben Keller stopped Aliaksandr Abramenka in round five.
Simen Smaadal made his pro debut by stopping way overmatched Pavel Staravoitau in the opening round.
