Archive image / photo: Torsten Helmke
Roman Fress was able to defend his WBC International cruiserweight title at the SES Boxing Gala in “Kraftverkehr” in Chemnitz.
Close fight at the beginning, then Fress turned up the heat
In the first main fight of the evening in the “Kraftverkehr” in Chemnitz, cruiserweight Roman Fress from the SES boxing stable faced the Austrian Stefan Nikolic. The meeting between the two was a reunion after a good 10 years! In 2015, Nikolic won the Chemistry Cup over Fress – so he still had a score to settle with the Austrian and also threw his WBC International title into the balance, which he wanted to defend for the first time.
In the very respectful duel, both of them took turns sharing the middle of the ring at the beginning and initially felt each other out. After an unintentional headbutt in the second, Fress suffered a small cut on his left eye, but this did not cause him any problems. The SES cruiser kept his calm and was able to land good hits to the head. Nikolic, who was fighting his first title fight with one of the four major associations, was able to repeatedly set the tone with his long jab, but was occasionally countered by Fress.
As is usual with WBC title fights, the open scoring was announced after the fourth round, which reflected the fight as a draw. Nikolic used his size and mainly boxed long, while Fress tried to bridge the distance in order to be able to land hits in the middle distance. The Magdeburger was often prevented from doing his actions by being held back, which is why the referee also had to do something. Roman Fress often achieved good success when he hit and crossed.
Picture-book liver hook: Roman Fress sends Stefan Nikolic onto the boards
Roman Fress definitely had a hard time against the Austrian, who hasn’t boxed since September 2024. Although he turned up the heat in the later rounds and narrowly led to the second open scoring, Nikolic proved to be an unpleasant opponent for the Magdeburg man to box. In the ninth of ten rounds, Fress ended the fight – and how! With a picture-perfect hook to the liver, he sent Stefan Nikolic onto the boards so hard that he had to be counted out. Roman Fress was ultimately able to convincingly defend his WBC International cruiserweight title.
