France’s light heavyweight Doudou Ngumbu (31-4, 11 KOs) upset Ukraine’s Vyacheslav Uzelkov (28-3, 17 KOs) for the WBO Inter-Continental 175lb title by unanimous decision on March 16 in the 7,000-capacity Palace of Sports in Kyiv.
Judges scored the fight 116-113, 115-113 and 115-113
in favor of Ngumbu, 33, who is originally from Congo.
Cuts appeared on both fighters towards the end of the 12-round fight, but it
was Ngumbu who was the wiser boxer by unleashing well-placed counter punches during
the 33-year-old aggressive rushes.
A native of Vinnytsia Oblast, Uzelkov was the reigning WBO titleholder coming into the fight.
WBC heavyweight champion and Ukrainian member of
parliament Vitali Klitschko sat at ringside. K2 Promotions Ukraine headed
by Oleksandr Krassyuk was the event’s promoter, which is affiliated with the Klitschko brothers.
Kyiv Post editor Mark Rachkevych can be reached at [email protected].
