Last night, at the Pala San Filippo in Brescia, Alexandro Foglia (12-1-1, 4 KOs) and Claudio Grande (13-6-0, 3 KOs) squared off for the EBU Silver European bantamweight title at the Memorial Tamburini, an event organized by Promo Boxe Italia.
Alex Foglia emerged victorious after twelve rounds, winning by split decision. We cannot express an opinion on the verdict, however, as a problem with the Sportface livestream prevented us from watching the final rounds of the fight.
Foglia, a 24-year-old from Vanzago, in the province of Milan, is a southpaw with good footwork and solid punches, particularly his straight left and right hook. Grande, a 31-year-old from Massa who was born in Empoli, has a more frantic and aggressive boxing style, preferring to engage at close range from his orthodox stance.
Foglia, the taller man with the longer reach, started by moving along the ropes, forced backwards by Grande’s aggression. Both fighters immediately relied on their rear straight punches in an attempt to undermine their opponent’s confidence.
After Grande landed a good right hand to the body, Foglia began moving more and counterpunching effectively with his right hook. Grande came out firing again in the third round, closing the distance and landing hooks to the body and head. Foglia had considerable difficulty shaking him off, finally getting some breathing room towards the end of the round, when the Tuscan fighter eased off.
Foglia then began throwing straight punches to initiate exchanges before moving out of range to avoid close-quarters exchanges. However, Grande appeared more effective in the early rounds, landing the more dangerous blows.
The momentum seemed to shift in the fifth round. Foglia began landing with greater intensity, using his right hook and left hand. More active and explosive on his feet, he prevented Grande from trapping him as he had done earlier. During the middle rounds, Grande slowed his pace, allowing Foglia to make better use of his boxing skills. His straight left began finding the target more effectively, while his right hook also landed several times during brief exchanges at close range.
As expected, Grande’s drop in pace ultimately favored Foglia, who managed to keep his opponent at bay with straight punches. Towards the end of the seventh, however, Grande succeeded in trapping the Milanese fighter against the ropes and caught him with a combination of punches from both hands.
After a slower start to the eighth round, the two fighters came together in an intense close-range exchange. Foglia caught the Tuscan with a left hook and followed up with a somewhat chaotic flurry of punches from both hands, eventually forcing Grande down to one knee. After receiving a count, Grande immediately got back to his feet and appeared able to continue without difficulty.
The Tuscan fighter resumed his aggressive approach, immediately engaging Foglia at close range and landing a fine combination consisting of a left to the body and a right to the head. However, the 24-year-old from Vanzago stood up well to the attack, regained his composure and began keeping Grande at bay once again with his straight punches.
Unfortunately, an interruption to the Sportface livestream prevented us from watching the final rounds of the fight and the announcement of the decision. We learned that Alex Foglia had captured the EBU Silver European bantamweight title by split decision. Two judges scored the fight in Foglia’s favor, while the third gave the victory to Grande.
It was a very closely contested fight, featuring several frantic exchanges at close range and rounds that were difficult to score. Based on what we saw, Foglia’s boxing prevailed thanks to his greater variety and ring control. Grande, however, also deserves praise for giving Foglia such a tough fight with his aggressive style.