Patrick Nielsen (14-0, 8 KOs) is the new WBA Intercontinental Middleweight Champion following a spectacular tenth-round KO victory over Gaston Vega (17-5, 6 KOs). Fighting in front of 2,758 fans at a boisterous Arena Nord in Frederikshavn, the 21-year-old stamped his authority on the battle early. In the seventh, he floored Vega with a powerful combination, but the Argentinian recovered and fought back. In a huge round nine, Nielsen knocked his opponent down again but then went down himself after an exchange. However, he quickly regained his composure and ended the bout in style in the tenth when he scored two more knock-downs for the referee to wave the bout off. “I am thrilled to be the WBA Intercontinental Champion,” Nielsen said. “This is a big win for me. It was a tough fight. I was provoked badly by Vega and his ‘slayer’ shirt so I wanted to make him pay. I am glad I knocked him out in the end.”
Vega said it was a tough fight. “It was all or nothing for me in the end, I knew it would go one way or the other in the tenth round, I am very, very disappointed that I lost. It was a hard fight.”
Said promoter Nisse Sauerland: “Congratulations to Patrick for a spirited and courageous performance. It was an exciting fight, Vega gave it his all but Patrick´s superior skills and superior power succeeded in the end. This was an important victory for him. He will now enter the WBA rankings and continue his climb to the top. It was a great night of boxing in Frederikshavn with a fantastic atmosphere.”
In an action-packed undercard, European Super-Middleweight Champion James DeGale defended his title with a fourth-round TKO victory versus Cristian Sanavia. Andreas Evensen clinched the WBA International Featherweight Title with a majority decision against Willie “Big Bang” Casey, while Reda Zam Zam scored a fifth-round TKO victory over Broislav Kubin. Erik Skoglund knocked out Alberto Antenucci in the second round, and local hero Torben Keller TKOed Aliaksandr Abramenka in the fifth. Simon Smadaal also celebrated a successful pro debut with a first-round KO versus Pavel Staravoitau.
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.
