by Tamas Pradarics

Leading Hungarian boxing promoter Felix Racz’s Felix Promotion opened its autumn season with an eight-bout card in Varpalota, Hungary. The Friday event was originally planned to be headlined by WBO European titlist Zoltan Kovacs but that bout had canceled after Tanzanian Francis Miyeyusho failed to leave his country due to visa issues.

That left undefeated cruiserweight Imre Szello having to fight in the main event against substitution opponent Petar Mrvalj. Szello (18-0, 11 KOs) fought patiently from the first bell and controlled the bout over his Bosnian foe. The calculated and accurate Hungarian pugilist dropped Mrvalj once in round one and twice in round two.

Though Mrvalj (7-8, 3 KOs) beat the count after the last knockdown, referee Bence Kovacs rightfully stopped the one-sided affair. Szello, who is currently ranked No. 10 by the WBO, is scheduled to defend his WBO Inter-Continental belt against a name opponent in November.

On the lone title bout of the event, 22-year-old Renato Egedi became the first ever WBO Youth belt holder at super middleweight after he stopped Ukrainian Davyd Gorohovets in five frames. It was a grueling matchup between a willing and hyperactive Hungarian up-and-comer and a tough and rough Ukrainian prospect. Egedi (10-1-2, 5 KOs) used his straight punches and athleticism to keep Gorohovets (8-2, 7 KOs) at bay while throwing nice left hooks to the body at close range.

The Ukrainian tried to slow his foe down with his own punches to the mid-section, though a number of them landed below the beltline. Referee Joerg Milke failed to sanction these fouls that left Egedi himself to retaliate on spots. Gorohovets went down several times complaining about low blows until Egedi realized he has to target the body to take his now unwilling opponent out of the fight and that was exactly what he did, dropping Gorohovets twice in round five and secured the most important victory of his young career. Egedi is expected to enter the top 15 in the WBO ranks at 168 pounds.

Reigning Hungarian middleweight titleholder Balazs Bacskai dropped down on weight to 154 pounds to face late replacement opponent Lasha Gurguliani. Bacskai (2-0, 1 KO) quickly took control of the bout and dropped his opponent with a combination in the third stanza. The 29-year-old former amateur stand-out increased his pace in round four and battered Gurguliani (13-5, 7 KOs) until the latter turned his back to the fight pointing to his arm, that left referee Joerg Milke to call a halt to the contest.

Ferenc Berki Jr successfully kept his ’O’ against arch-rival Zoltan Kispal in an eight-round middleweight matchup. The explosive Kispal (7-3, 5 KOs) started better, using his footwork to circle around and stepping in with straight left hands and right hooks from his southpaw stance. Berki (9-0, 5 KOs) started to get more aggressive in the third and from round four the momentum of the bout completely changed. Kispal got tired, partially because of the strong hooks and well-placed uppercuts at close range by his more talented counterpart. After eight frames Berki got the verdict by all three judges.

Reigning Hungarian cruiserweight titlist Jozsef Darmos (7-1, 6 KOs) dropped and decisioned a game Gabor Detre (2-2), welterweight national champion Balazs Torteli (14-1, 5 KOs) easily beat experienced Georgian journeyman Kakha Avetisiani (47-44-1, 29 KOs) over six frames, 140-pounder Balazs Marton (2-1-1, 2 KOs) impressively stopped overmatched Imre Mucsi (0-5) in the opening stanza, and heavyweight Tibor Krakovszky (1-0, 1 KO) made his professional debut over Zoltan Csala (11-13, 9 KOs) with a third round knockout.

The sold-out event was promoted by Felix Promotion and televised live by leading Hungarian sports broadcaster, M4 Sport.

You can reach Tamas Pradarics at pradaricst@yahoo.com and follow him on Twitter @TomiPradarics.