Boxing

Erdei wins WBC cruiserweight title

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Updated Nov 22, 2009 4:34 AM ET
     
 

KIEL, Germany (AP)

Zsolt Erdei of Hungary won the WBC cruiserweight title with a majority decision over Italian veteran Giacobbe Fragomeni on Saturday.

Erdei, who vacated the WBO light heavyweight title to step up a division, improved his record to 31-0 in his first fight as a cruiserweight.

Fragomeni, whose only previous loss came to David Haye, dropped to 26-2, with one draw. The Italian had won the title last year with a defeat of Rudolf Kraj and retained it with a draw against Krzysztof Wlodarczyk in May.

One judge scored Saturday's fight 114-114, while the other two had Erdei ahead 115-113.

Erdei controlled the first three rounds with his speed and landed several powerful rights to the Italian's head.

But the 40-year-old, heavier Fragomeni stepped up the pace in the middle rounds, and his relentless style began to wear down his five years-younger opponent.

"After the first three rounds I thought I could do it easy," Erdei said. "But he kept on coming on, pressing and pressing and I began to worry about my health."

"It was a hard man's work."

Fragomeni began landing more punches to the body and to the Hungarian's chin and appeared to be gaining the upper hand.

Erdei landed a right and then a left hook at the end of the sixth round that otherwise went Fragomeni's way.

The Hungarian looked tired at the end of the seventh but he ended the next round with a good right to the chin that appeared to slow Fragomeni.

The last two rounds were a free-for-all, with both fighters connecting with their guards down.

Although Fragomeni threw a flurry of punches in the last round, the judges ruled in favor of the counterpunching Erdei

On the undercard, the Kazakhstan-born German Dimitri Sartison won the vacant WBA world supermiddleweight belt when the ring referee stopped the fight in the sixth round because of an eye injury to Stjepan Bozic of Croatia.

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