Erdei wins WBC cruiserweight title in slugfest

Nov 22, 2009 - 12:41 AM KIEL, Germany(AP) -- Zsolt Erdei of Hungary won the WBC cruiserweight title with a majority decision over Giacobbe Fragomeni on Saturday night.

Erdei vacated the WBO light-heavyweight title to fight at cruiserweight for the first time, and managed to do just enough against the 40-year-old Italian. Two judges had it 115-113 for Erdei, while the third scored it 114-114.

Erdei (31-0) controlled the first three rounds with his speed, landing several powerful rights to Fragomeni's head. The tide turned in the middle rounds when Fragomeni (26-2-1) stepped up the pace, and he began to wear down his younger opponent.

"After the first three rounds I thought I could do it easy," Erdei said. "But he kept on coming on, pressing and pressing and I began to worry about my health."

Fragomeni, whose only previous loss was to heavyweight titleholder David Haye, began connecting to the body and was gaining the upper hand when the Hungarian landed a blow to his chin at the end of the eighth round.

The last two rounds were a free-for-all, with both fighters connecting with their guards down. Although Fragomeni threw a flurry in the final round, the judges ruled the fight in the counterpunching Erdei's favor.

On the undercard, the Kazakhstan-born Dimitri Sartison won the vacant WBA super middleweight belt when the referee stopped the fight in the sixth round because of an eye injury to Stjepan Bozic of Croatia.