The undercard of the “Road to Glory” event promoted by Opi Since 82 at the Palasport in Guidonia delivered some exciting bouts and plenty of drama. Unfortunately, Vincenzo La Femina was stopped by the ringside doctor during the sixth round of his fight against Ukrainian Ihor Semonchuk due to a nasty cut. Things went considerably better for Gloria Peritore, who defeated Spain’s Karla Merida by Majority Decision, and Giovanni Sarchioto, who overwhelmed France’s Ciril Johnson Suffo in just one round.
Click here to read the report on the main event (Luca D’Ortenzi vs Eros Seghetti).
Ihor Semonchuk defeats Vincenzo La Femina by TKO 6 – WBO Global Featherweight Title
As usual, Semonchuk approached the fight by setting a blistering pace. The Ukrainian immediately came forward, showing no concern for the well-known punching power of our man, and began unleashing a barrage of punches while constantly moving his upper body in a frantic fashion.
Somewhat taken aback by his opponent’s explosive start, La Femina began finding his range in the second half of the opening round. The two fighters then exchanged an astonishing number of punches in the second, sending the crowd into a frenzy.
Unfortunately, the Italian was the one who came off worse from this all-out war. From the beginning of the third round, he had to deal with a cut beneath his right eye that was bleeding profusely. Semonchuk now had a clear target to exploit in order to worsen our fighter’s condition, and over the following minutes he gradually took control of the contest.
After displaying good mobility in the fourth round, alternating lateral movement with sudden flurries of punches, the Ukrainian unleashed himself in the fifth. He even managed to force La Femina backwards at times, putting him in serious trouble. In our opinion, the doctor’s decision to stop the fight was the right one, as the Italian’s facial injury appeared to be getting progressively worse.
Gloria Peritore defeats Karla Merida on points (Majority Decision) – EBU European Bantamweight Title
Karla Merida’s southpaw stance, elusive style and fast, unpredictable left hands initially gave Peritore some problems as she tried to adjust. After a difficult opening round, however, the Italian found the right formula, dramatically increasing the pace and overwhelming her opponent with relentless aggression.
After being swamped by her opponent’s looping hooks in the second round, Merida bounced back in the third, but she then had to endure several difficult rounds as the champion’s pressure left her with no breathing room, preventing her from establishing her counterpunching game.
By the end of six rounds, Peritore’s advantage was unmistakable. Our fighter subsequently toned down her offensive output slightly, but, to be fair, the Spanish challenger failed to capitalise on this, remaining extremely cautious and focusing almost exclusively on defence and movement.
Only in the ninth round, when the situation was already looking desperate, did Merida attempt to challenge her opponent for control of the centre of the ring. She also managed to land a beautiful straight left, perhaps the best punch of the entire fight. It was too little, too late, however, especially since Peritore resumed her furious assault in the final two minutes, albeit with less clarity and freshness than she had displayed in the first half of the contest.
Personally, I gave Merida only two rounds: the first and the ninth. I was therefore rather perplexed by the scorecards of Roland Kroj (96-94) and Kevin Parker (95-95), as they suggest a closely contested fight that, quite frankly, was not what we witnessed in the ring. The Belgian judge Hugues Hellebaut’s 99-91 scorecard was much more in line with my assessment.
Giovanni Sarchioto defeats Ciril Johnson Suffo by TKO 1 – WBO International Middleweight Title
Johnson Suffo started the fight aggressively, claiming the centre of the ring and looking to pave the way with his right jab before unleashing dangerous straight left hands. Sarchioto, however, was not intimidated and needed very little time to figure out the Frenchman.
The decisive sequence came when the French fighter made a serious technical mistake: an awkward, badly timed slip with his hands down left him exposed to a devastating right hook from our man. Knocked heavily to the canvas, Johnson Suffo struggled to get back to his feet and was immediately met with another barrage of punches from Sarchioto before the referee stepped in to save him as he appeared dazed and disoriented.
A lightning-fast victory, then, for our young fighter, who could now climb further up the WBO world rankings. He is already sitting in eighth place, bringing a world title opportunity a little closer.
Among the preliminary bouts, it is worth highlighting the quick victory scored by young Anthony El Moeti, who made short work of Colombian Eber Tobar in his first professional fight on Italian soil.
Exceptionally tall for his weight class (super lightweight), El Moeti floored his opponent with a perfectly timed right hand to the face halfway through the opening round. Shortly afterwards, with Tobar trapped in the corner and absorbing a barrage of punches, the referee stepped in to stop the contest.