Rudy Markussen (36-2, 23 KOs) scored a spectacular first-round KO victory over Michael Recloux (19-12, 8 KOs) at the TV2 Fight Night in Herning on Saturday night. In his first fight since November 2010, the “Hardhitter” wasted no time and flattened his opponent with a huge right. Recloux managed to get back up but when Markussen knocked him down with another hard series of punches, the referee stepped in (2:59). “I had prepared for eight tough rounds but I am happy I caught him early,” Markussen said. “This was a good win for me. I am pleased I showed my fans why they call me ‘The Hardhitter’ – I hit harder than anybody else at super-middleweight.”
In the co-featured main event, middleweight sensation Patrick Nielsen (11-0, 6 KOs) showed that Karsten Rower´s hard training work pays off. Nielsen cleverly picked apart Farouk Daku (12-2, 7 KOs), using his long jab and powerful southpaw left to tear his opponent down. He landed good shots in the second, and in the third round, Daku´s face was already battered. Nielsen landed a huge left at the end of the fourth that badly wobbled Daku only for the bell to save him. Nielsen continued his dominance in the following rounds and cruised to a shut-out points victory (80-72). “That was a good performance by Patrick,” Rower said. “He did was he was supposed to do and cleverly outboxed Daku. Patrick again showed his talent tonight.”
As in September, I once again ran out of gas in the 10th & 11th championship rounds of October & November with this column, but I recovered to complete them and will unleash a few more flurries to close out the 12th and final round.
In the first week of October, Hassan N’Dam won a UD over Curtis Stevens in an eliminator for the right to challenge Jermaine Taylor who defeated aging Sam Soliman to regain the IBF Middleweight title. How Taylor even earned this title shot is another story altogether, but it is all irrelevant as he is now the champion. However he will not have too much time to savor his victory as he has assault and battery charges pending against him and an upcoming court fight that may turn out to be the toughest fight of his life, just when things started to look up for him in boxing, we wish him luck.
