Niro-Chiofalo draw!

May 2, 2008

By Enrico "Erik" Crociati

Photo: Marco Chiesa

Italian lightweigth champ Giovanni Niro (14-0-2, 8 KOs) retained his title after a ten rounds draw versus local hero Max Chiofalo (9-2-2, 1 KOs) last evening in Piacenza, Italy. It was a cruel and bloody fight with a football-like atmosphere, as both fighters gave more than expected and went toe-to-toe without any stop. Scores were 95-95; 96-95 and 96-98 but plenty of ringsiders felt like Chiofalo would have deserved the win ((Fightnews had it 98-96 for Chiofalo).

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Photo: Marco Chiesa

Topping the undercard of a Mario Loreni promoted show in synergy with local stable ‘Salus & Virtus’, light middleweight Simone Rotolo (28-3, 13 KOs) showed he is still a force to be reckoned with at the European level, and outpointed Mugurel Sebe (11-43-2, 3 KOs) of Romania over six entertaining rounds. Rotolo picked up the pace of the fight with a great array of punches at his disponsal and as the fight wore on, Sebe was able to survive the punishement only thanks to his great heart and experience.

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Photo: Marco Chiesa

Also on the undercard, female big puncher Laura Tavecchio (3-0, 2 KOs) destroyed usually durable Suzana Radovanovic (0-5) of Serbia in less than four minutes. Radovanovic is much better than his record shows and Tavecchio performance was highly praised by any ringsider, also in action, the undefeated light welterweight Luca Marasco (5-0, 2 KO’s) scored a spectacular second round KO over stablemate Alessandro Mammoliti (1-1-1) with a powerful and perfectly timed right hook to the head.

Finally, heavyweight Gianluca Mandras (1-0, 1 KOs)and former amateur star, light heavyweight Cristian Marchetti (1-0, 1 KOs) have had a successful pro debut. Both young prospect scoring a stunning third round knock-out with devasting body shot, Mandras over Bulgarian trialhorse Anton Simeonov (0-2) and Marchetti over Mile Nikolic (0-2) of Serbia. The main event was televised live in Italy by Rai Sport Sat.