The highly anticipated all-Italian showdown for the continental crown, promoted by Alessandro Cherchi’s OPI Since 82, ended inside the distance: Cristian Zara (18-2-0, 4 KOs) successfully defended his EBU European bantamweight title by stopping challenger Salvatore Contino (11-2-0, 4 KOs) via TKO in the ninth round.
At the Grande Miniera di Serbariu in Carbonia, Sardinia, hometown fighter Zara showcased excellent technical skills that allowed him to neutralize Contino’s boxing.
From the opening bell, Cristian began moving around the ring with the intention of preventing Salvatore from finding his ideal range. Zara immediately made good use of his height advantage — 168 cm compared with Contino’s 159 — as well as his superior reach. Unusually fighting from a southpaw stance, he fired straight punches to keep Contino at a safe distance and disrupt his attacks. Contino started very cautiously, occasionally trying to close the gap and focusing mainly on the body. In the early rounds he showed good reflexes, slipping some of Zara’s combinations, but struggled to find the timing and explosiveness needed to take away his opponent’s space.
In the third round, both men increased the pace and work rate. Zara’s straight left was the punch that caused Contino the most trouble, keeping him alert and preventing him from working effectively at close range. Salvatore tried to raise the tempo, but when attacking straight ahead his efforts produced little of significance. The difference in reach was simply too great.
Contino’s need to close the distance in order to become less predictable and more dangerous ran into Cristian’s excellent footwork. Zara was adept at avoiding being cut off and could take away the challenger’s range with a simple step backwards. In order to trap the defending champion against the ropes, Contino had to take risks, exposing himself to Zara’s long-range punches. And once he finally reached his preferred distance, he still had to contend with Cristian’s right hook and left uppercut, as was evident in the sixth round.
Despite landing a few good right hands, Contino perhaps remained too cautious and not aggressive enough. Instead of taking away Cristian’s breathing room and safe distance, he allowed him time to think and manage his movement around the ring. Of course, doing otherwise would have required him to literally walk through his opponent’s fire, and Zara was consistently ready to meet him with the straight left.
In the seventh, after finally managing to get inside, Contino was caught by a heavy right hook from Zara that clearly shook him. Salvatore absorbed the blow and immediately came forward again.
In the eighth round, Zara’s left hand continued to do damage, but Contino pressed forward and put together a good sequence of punches, finishing with a right to the body. Both fighters took the initiative in bursts, producing some well-executed combinations.
At the end of the round, Contino’s corner urged him to take more risks, fully aware of how the fight was unfolding and of the need to increase his offensive output.
But despite a few good right hands from Salvatore, Cristian’s straight left continued to dictate the action. Contino bravely absorbed the shots and resumed his pursuit, but Zara once again found the target with a fine left-right-left combination while coming forward. Salvatore tried to respond by working to the body, only to be caught flush by a right uppercut from Zara, followed by three more consecutive right uppercuts that sent Contino to the canvas.
Contino tenaciously made it back to his feet, although he was clearly unsteady on his legs. In this writer’s view, he was unnecessarily allowed to absorb several more heavy shots from Zara, including a right uppercut, a series of straight punches from both hands to the head and another right uppercut to finish the sequence, just as his corner threw in the towel to bring the contest to an end.
Cristian Zara therefore retained his EBU European bantamweight title, winning by ninth-round TKO.
The sportsmanship between the two fighters was commendable, with Cristian immediately going over to embrace and support Salvatore, who was shaken and visibly unsteady on his feet.
The door now opens for Zara to take on significant international challenges, with the hope that the 28-year-old from Sassari can build on the excellent performance he produced tonight and raise the bar even further.
For Contino, it was an opportunity that slipped away and, at 36 years of age, he now faces the task of rediscovering the motivation to start again — something we sincerely hope he will be able to do.