After two days of celebration, the first disappointment arrived for the Italian contingent participating in the Boxing Grand Prix in Riyadh. Giovanni Sarchioto was eliminated in the first round of the middleweight tournament by Maksym Molodan. The Ukrainian southpaw’s stance, combined with his constant movement, trapped our fighter, who was unable to showcase the best of his skills and lost by Majority Decision.
The tactical challenges of the bout were evident from the opening minutes, as Molodan circled around Sarchioto, pestering him with his right jab and never presenting a stationary target. Our athlete seemed a bit stiff and only managed to stand out in the first round with a sharp right hand in the final seconds.
The second round was more encouraging for Giovanni, who, after again struggling to pin down the tricky opponent for two and a half minutes, landed two heavy shots—a straight right and a left hook—that briefly buckled Molodan’s legs.
Unfortunately, that promising exchange did not become a turning point in Sarchioto’s match. The Italian continued to attack in a sterile and ineffective way in the following rounds, allowing his opponent to edge ahead on the judges’ scorecards.
Molodan didn’t do anything spectacular offensively, but his first-intention left hands, aimed alternately at the body and head, often caught our boxer off guard, disrupting his rhythm and forcing him to restart his attacks from scratch.
Trailing by two points on two of the three scorecards after four rounds, Sarchioto tried to raise the pace to turn the fight around, but Molodan capitalized on it by landing frequent and accurate counters in a fifth round that turned out to be the best of the fight for the Ukrainian.
The desperate final assaults from our boxer, aware that only a KO could now win him the bout, were neutralized by his opponent’s spoiling tactics—clever clinching and time-wasting that brought him safely to the final bell without ever being in serious danger of going down.
At the end of the fight, two judges scored it a fair 58–56 for Molodan, while the third, a bit generous toward Sarchioto, ruled it a draw. Thus, the tournament came to a premature end for the man considered by some to be the most promising Italian boxer competing in the Boxing Grand Prix.
It must be noted, however, that Molodan’s style is extremely difficult to decipher. His hand speed, constant movement, and the riddle posed by his southpaw stance would challenge even more experienced and seasoned fighters than Sarchioto, who found himself in an unfamiliar situation.
Sarchioto is a boxer who performs best when being attacked and can unleash the power of his punches. Forced to “chase” his opponent throughout the match, he was exposed as lacking in the crucial art of “cutting off the ring” and too often left Molodan with an escape route.
Today’s experience will nonetheless be crucial for the young fighter’s development. At 27 years old and with just thirteen professional bouts under his belt, he clearly still has room for growth. Now he and his team can review what happened and focus in the coming months on improving the aspects that didn’t work in Riyadh—so Giovanni will be better prepared the next time he faces an opponent of this type.