Boxing professional has no chance
Gualtieri loses the world title in Schmeling’s footsteps
October 15, 2023, 8:51 a.m
The German boxing professional Vincenzo Gualtieri wants to win a world title in the USA and thus write German boxing history twice over. But his hopes are dashed early in the hail of blows from his opponent.
Middleweight Vincenzo Gualtieri has lost his world championship belt after just one fight. The IBF champion clearly lost in the unification fight to the still undefeated WBO title holder Janibek Alimchanuly from Kazakhstan. In the sixth round, the referees took the German out of the fight.
Gualtieri started as an outsider and was ultimately clearly defeated. In Rosenberg/Texas, Alimchanuly repeatedly kept his German rival at a distance with punches. In the fifth round, a strong left uppercut caused Gualtieri to falter for the first time. In the next round there were more heavy hits before the referee stopped the fight with a technical knockout.
Schmeling remains unique
“I congratulate Janibek, he was better today. He has a hard punch, but this knockout came a little too early,” said Gualtieri. Winner Alimchanuly claimed he knew Gualtieri “wouldn’t fight me head-on, that he would try to tire me out, but he didn’t manage to do that.”
Gualtieri missed out on rising into an illustrious circle. With a win he would have become only the fourth German after Max Schmeling, Dariusz Michaelczewski and Sven Ottke to hold more than one major world title at the same time. The following also applies: Since Schmeling, no German boxer has been able to win a world championship fight in the USA. Gualtieri – nicknamed “Il Capo” – made the historic opportunity possible with a success in Wuppertal at the beginning of July. At that time he defeated the favorite Brazilian Esquiva Falcao with a point win.