Ismaïl Abdoul, 39, has become the new Belgian middle-weight champion (between 76.205 kg and 79.378 kg). He beat Nabil Lahouari from Brussels, 35, at the Sporthal Sint Pieter at St Trond on Saturday evening. He won on points by a long way (100-90, 100-90, 100-91).
The title was up for grabs. The Ghent veteran has been incredibly successful since dropping to the lower category. He now has 58 victories (including 21 Kos) in… 96 fights. Lahouari suffered his 2nd defeat in 13 fights.
Ismaïl Abdoul at his corner © Olivier Garçon
Ismaïl Abdoul, the more active of the two, had the control of the rounds and coming towards the end Nabil Lahouari knew he had to come with a knockout. He upped his game in the last two rounds to find a finish but Ismaïl managed to hold out to take a deserved victory.
Jean-Claude Magenge on Nabil Lahouari's corner who started to coach him when he first got into boxing at the relatively old age of 23 and
guided Nabil to 13 professional victories and 2 defeats. © Olivier Garçon
That same evening, Francesco Patera, 22, the Belgian feather-weight champion (between 58. 976 kg and 61.235 kg) beat Jordan De Simone, 33, from Hennuye in Binche. He threw in the towel in the second round.
Patera (Genk) remains unbeaten in 15 fights.
(Source: Belga)
