TATLI WINS BACK EBU LIGHTWEIGHT CROWN

Edis Tatli (30-2) regained the European lightweight crown with a clear unanimous decision over Francesco Patera (18-3) in a tough fight, because Patera refused to give up his EBU belt easily.

Both fighters looked good in the first round. Tatli then began to show his power and pressed his opponent, forcing Patera to retreat. Tatli landed powerful right hooks in the second round, but Patera returned incoming fire, with some stinging counters.  Both continued throwing hard punches throughout the opening rounds, yet Tatli’s seemed to be having more effect.

In the sixth round,  Tatli landed some accurate clusters, and Patera responded with combinations punctuated by a good left hook to the body. Tatli began to control the action again in the eighth.

Patera fought back hard in the eleventh but simply couldn`t  match the level and work rate of Tatli, who did everything possible to try and gain a knockout, but in vain. All the judges scored the fight 119-109 in favor of Tatli.