European cruiserweight titleholder Alexander Alekseev (23-2-1, 20 KOs) retained his title by getting a twelve round draw against former world champion Firat Arslan (32-5-2, 21 KOs) on Friday night at the EWS Arena in Goeppingen, Germany. At the age of 41, Arslan seemed to be in tough against the 31-year-old former amateur world champion. But, for the first ten rounds both fighters met in the center and traded punches on even terms with the gritty Arslan getting the upper hand as the fight progressed. Alekseev changed his tactics and dominated by boxing from long range in round eleven, but it was back to toe-to-toe in the twelfth with Alekseev shading it. In the end, scores were 114-114, 114-114, 116-113 Alekseev.
In a fight that figured to go twelve rounds and did, WBC Mediterranean middleweight titlist Goekalp Oezekler (13-1, 6 KOs) won a controversial split decision over Mouez Fhima (21-2-1, 8 KOs). Scores were 115-114, 115-113 for Oezekler, 116-112 for Fhima.
