By Luke Furman

PalaCarucci, Terracina, Italy - 44-year-old veteran Gianluca Branco (49-3-1, 23 KOs) overcame two knockdowns to once again capture EBU gold with a stoppage victory over Polish veteran Rafal Jackiewicz (46-12-2, 21 KOs),who injured his knee in the sixth and was unable to come out for the seventh round.

Branco held the EBU crown at junior welterweight and back in 2010 he fought Matthew Hatton for the EBU belt at 147-pounds, but lost a twelve round unanimous decision. The biggest fight in Branco's career was in 2006, when he lost by a seventh round TKO to then WBO junior welterweight champion Miguel Cotto.

Luke Furman covers boxing for bokser.org.