By Alexey Sukachev

Gerry Weber Stadium, Halle, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany - Dustin Dirks, a 23-year old boxer-puncher from Germany, acquired his first professional title, a WBA I/C belt at 175 lbs, but he was the victim of excessive clinching, multiple fouls and WWE-style wrestling. Dirks (26-0, 19 KOs) wasn't able to perform to his full ability due to the dirty tactics of Brazilian Cleiton Conceicao (18-5-2, 14 KOs), which doesn't speak much about his abilities either.

WBO #3 Dirks is a methodical boxer-puncher, and it didn't work properly against the Brazilian, who was too durable to be knocked out and too dirty to be stopped on his feet. Conceicao was the instigator in this whole mess but he achieved what he wished to - he survived the distance against a battler who stopped his last seven opponents. This feat didn't come softly as the Latino import was put down in the second by a punch to the back of the head and was penalized one point for excessive holding in the 4th, 8th and 11th stanzas. Interestingly, when he actually tried to fight he was able to hit Dirks cleanly with his looping right bombs. It was very rare though. The German, on the other hand, is coming along but still looks a little raw for a real challenge.

Judge Ingo Barrabas Germany): 117-107. Judge Pierluiggi Poppi (Italy): 117-108. Judge Pawel Kardynyi (Poland): 120-104 - all for Dirks.

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IBF #6 and WBA #13 ranked heavyweight prospect Edmund Gerber (22-0, 14 KOs) continued his win streak with a dull decision over veteran American journeyman Darnell Wilson (24-16-3, 20 KOs). The Kazakhstani-born Gerber was younger and fresher than his opponent but he still lacks maturity and skills to overcome even a faded opponent without problems. This time the German heavyweight was effective with his jab in the first round, but Wilson made it ugly for him at the end of the stanza connecting with a very hard left hook, which put Gerber in trouble. That was virtually the last of Wilson's successes.

From round two the bout was all Gerber's and very uneventful. The German stayed out of the harm's way, mixing his left jab with quick right hands without any effect. Wilson, on the other hand, was very wide with his swings and didn't land any. He was rapidly losing what was left of his stamina. From the third stanza he was breathing very hard. Gerber pulled his foot off the gas pedal and let Wilson not only to survive in the fight but to do that in style by staying partially competitive until the final bell.

At the end, two judges had it 79-73 - for Gerber, while the third judge  a slightly closer score of 79-74, also for Gerber. Wilson suffered his fourth loss in a row and his ninth defeat in the last ten contests since going the distance with Firat Arslan in the WBA cruiserweight championship in 2008. Gerber, however, did not win any fans in this particular fight.

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Rising light heavyweight Robert Woge got his biggest career win so far and improved his record to 10-0, with 9 KOs, after stopping surprisingly ovematched Italy-based Ukrainian Sergey Demchenko (14-4, 10 KOs) at 2:42 inthe fifth round. Woge (10-0, 9 KOs) dominated Demchenko from the starters, pressuring him and giving him no room to move in and no air to inhale. It's to be said though that Demchenko was fighting for the second time in over three years and that was clearly seen in the fight. In rounds four and five, Demchenko has been punished badly, and in the fifth he was forced to spit out his mouthpiece time and again. He was deducted two points for that, and then stopped at the point when he was unable to defend himself, eating punches at will at the ropes.

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2012 London Olympian for Germany, Enrico Koelling, notched his second professional win, outpointing elusive Russian spoiler Ivan Maslov (7-12-1) unanimously over six. Koelling was busy trying to corner Maslov but the latter danced around and clowned all fight long. He didn't do anything besides that, so his loss was clearly justified. However, at the moment Koelling (2-0) doesn't look like a star in the making. He is 22 though and has a lot of time to improve.

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Cruiserweight David Graf improved his record to 9-0, 6 KOs, after an eighth round unanmious decision over Congolese trialhorse Blanchard Kalambay (3-12-2, 3 KOs). Kalambay, 30, fighting for the first time in three years, was no match for the hard-hitting German but he used his durability to last the distance. Graf, 23, put him down twice - once in the first after a smashing left hook, and once in the eighth and last round on a combination of punches.

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20-year old German hopeful Tyron Zeuge was taken to the full route for the first time in his fourth professional bout. Zeuge experienced little problems with fellow undefeated Belgian Matingu Kindele (3-1), 28, dominating him to a wide unanimous decision. Kindele was way too wide with his shots, while the German light heavyweight was sharp, fast and resilient. Kindele was forced to take a knee in the third after the right hand of Zeuge to his body. BoxingScene had it 60-53 - for Zeuge (4-0, 3 KOs).

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