The ninth event organized by TAF, The Art of Fighting, took place last night at the Centro Pavesi in Milan. Among the main bouts was the clash between Mirko Geografo and Akrem Aouina, who squared off for the WBC International Silver welterweight title, held by Aouina.
Akrem emerged victorious after 10 rounds fought with confidence and authority, following the guidance of his corner—particularly Giacobbe Fragomeni, his trainer and a well-known figure in Italian boxing.
It was a high-level and compelling fight between two boxers with contrasting styles: on one side, Aouina’s physical strength, southpaw stance, and unorthodox angles; on the other, Geografo’s technical precision and ring control.
Mirko Geografo (19-1-2, 1 KO), a 33-year-old from Rome trained by Simone D’Alessandri, entered the bout fresh off a split decision win over Pietro Rossetti, a close and hard-fought contest that earned him the EBU Silver welterweight belt.
Akrem Aouina (12-1-0, 5 KOs), a 30-year-old Italian-Tunisian fighter, was coming off a unanimous decision victory over Nicholas Esposito last November, which earned him the WBC International Silver welterweight title.
Geografo started aggressively, looking for exchanges at close range, trying to limit the constant movement of his opponent. In turn, Akrem adopted an elusive approach from the outset, hitting and then quickly exiting his opponent’s range.
Akrem’s out-boxing strategy began paying off early. His constant movement made it hard for Mirko to find the right distance—let alone land clean shots.
Long arms, great speed, and a fast, impactful straight left allowed Aouina to dictate the pace from the early rounds. Geografo responded in round two with a solid combination that made an impression.
Though mostly sticking to his corner’s game plan, Akrem occasionally accepted brief exchanges at close quarters, showing resilience. Geografo tried to crack his opponent’s defense but couldn’t land the kind of decisive blow that could shake him or disrupt his confidence.
In round five, despite a solid right hand landed by Geografo, Aouina remained composed, kept moving efficiently, and continued landing mainly with the left to the head and body, occasionally mixing in a right hook.
Akrem proved elusive for most of the fight. His physical superiority as a southpaw was clear throughout. Geografo’s commendable efforts to close the distance weren’t effective, despite Aouina’s low guard, occasional overconfidence, and a few wild punches.
The fight went the distance with no major surprises, although there were some clean shots landed. After ten rounds, Akrem Aouina won by unanimous decision with scorecards of 98-93 and two scores of 98-92. Both fighters showed great sportsmanship and gave their all in the ring.
Now Aouina can look ahead to tougher challenges, while Mirko will need to reconnect with the form that saw him achieve convincing wins in previous outings.