Boxing, Lorusso’s pity: the European Championship ends on points in Essomba

Italy loses one of the three European titles: that of the bantamweight. In fact, in the Monza Arena, Alessio Lorusso had to give the European belt to the challenger Thomas Essomba on points with the unanimous decision of the three judges (116-112, 117-111, 116-112), who had dominated 8 rounds for two judges out of 12 and for a third 9 out of 12. Too bad for the Italian boxer, who had also been pushed to the ringside by the Monza captain Matteo Pessina, but it was a complicated match right from the start, always uphill, in the presence of a British school boxer, obsessive, annoying but effective. On the contrary, Alessio has never really figured out what to do. And finally he paid the bill.

The match

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A left-handed match. Essomba (12-8–1) starts more enterprising and scores with some nasty lefties. Shaken and more mobile, Lorusso (21-5-2 with 9 knockouts) tries the combination at the beginning of the third round but does not give continuity to his work. The champion suffers from the boxing of the British of Cameroonian origin who is not afraid of an open challenge, more convinced and faster. In the middle of the match the situation becomes more complicated. Lorusso does not find the measure, perhaps mentally blocked and surprised by the dynamism of his rival. He should shorten the distance but reactivity would also be needed.

From the 7th Alessio is more convincing, he tries with his right foot, but it’s more a throw-in than a build-up, a poorly composed action against an unpredictable opponent who anticipates him if he doesn’t miss. The ninth round is the best for the keeper who also finds some uppercuts to the body. But in the tenth round the refrain doesn’t change; neither the heart nor the pride is enough. The belt is lost. Now Italy clings only to Matteo Signani king of the middleweights and Mauro Forte king of the featherweights. Lorusso abdicates but will soon be able to make up for it.

Sub highlight

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In the other matches of the evening entitled The Art of Fighiting, victory by kot 5 for Alessio Spahiu (4-0) against the Italian-Albanian Enea Keci (1-5); in the 60 kg Francesco Paparo (4-0-1) beats Pietro Caputo (2-3) on 6 points; in the light heavyweight the Italian-Egyptian Momo El Maghraby beats Franco De Mita (4-1) on 6 points; and in the tops Jonathan Kogasso (8-5), an Italian-Congolese, always beats the Italian-Moldovan Sergiu Sinigur (6-1-1) on 6 points.