De Carolis retains WBA title after draw with Zeuge
WBA super middleweight champion Giovanni De Carolis (24-6-1, 12 KOs) fought to a 12 round majority draw with challenger Tyron Zeuge (18-0-1, 10 KOs) on Saturday night at the Max Schmeling Halle in Berlin, Germany.
Italian De Carolis retained his belt after two judges scores were 115-115, while the third scored it 114-115 for the German fighter.
Zeuge started well, connecting with several combinations in the early rounds. But De Carolis opened up with clubbing blows as the fight progressed.
It was close at the halfway point but the challenger appeared to tire in the seventh and eighth with De Carolis landing the cleaner and harder punches. However, Zeuge landed his best shot of the bout in the ninth. A left hook made the champion take a step back before both fighters exchanged big power shots as the two-way action continued.
Zeuge damaged his left shoulder at the end of the tenth during one of the exchanges, but he still managed to keep the action competitive until the final bell.
Also on the card, former world champion Arthur Abraham (45-5, 30 KOs) rebounded from losing his WBO 168 title to Gilberto Ramirez last April with a eighth round stoppage win over Norwegian Tim Robin Lihaug (15-2, 8 KOs).
The Armenian-born German dropped Lihaug in the eighth and followed up with several heavy hooks to force the referee to wave it off at 1:09 of the round.
Abraham claimed the vacant WBO International super middleweight title.