Light heavyweight Mobin Kahraze makes history at the 18th Bounce Fight Night at Vienna’s Heumarkt.
Mobin Kahraze from the Viennese boxing club Bounce is the new WBF World Light Heavyweight Champion. After a dramatic fight that will go down in the history of boxing, Kahraze defeated Mansur Elsaev on points in an Austrian duel. This makes him the second bouncer after Michaela Kotaskova to bring a world title to Austria. The fight was the highlight of the 18th Bounce Fight Night, which took place on Friday (June 5) in the sold-out open-air arena at Heumarkt in front of 2,500 spectators.
Both title contenders fought for 12 rounds with an intensity never seen before in Austria. Mobin Kahraze succeeded in preventing Elsaev’s feared punching power from coming into its own from the very first round thanks to his speed and finer boxing technique. The longer the fight lasted, the more confident and assured Kahraze became. From the 10th round onwards, Elsaev’s face was already badly marked by numerous hits. Referee Max Gräfe had his hands full to bring the fight to a clean end. Despite their great rivalry, both boxers paid each other great respect afterwards.
World champion Kotaskova confident
Boxing at the highest level was also on offer in 13 other fights at this Bounce Fight Night. For example, Michaela Kotaskova, WBF World Light Middleweight Champion, returned to the ring for the first time two months after her fight against WBO World Champion Chantal Cameron in London. Kotaskova won unanimously on points against Czech Ester Konecna after weak resistance. Michaela will now take a summer break and wait for new challenges in the fall.
Farewell to an Austrian legend
Timy “Albanian Bomber” Shala fought his last boxing match on this Fight Night in the light heavyweight division against Tomas Adamek from the Czech Republic. However, the 40-year-old boxing promoter will remain involved in the sport as an organizer. The Bounce Fight Night was disappointing for the Austrian Howig Grigorjan. He put up a technically excellent fight against German middleweight Anas El Abid. However, he had to admit defeat after a controversial decision by the judges. Austrian Djordje Berak’s defeat to Poland’s Michal Malicki at half-middleweight also came as a surprise.
Nazarian and Dieguez impress
Bounce boxer Rafael Nazarian delivered a strong performance in the half-middleweight division. In his second fight, he defeated Poland’s Dawid Przybylski unanimously on points. The duel between Ricardo Dieguez from Austria and Bartosz Oles from Poland was very evenly matched. Dieguez won his second fight on a majority decision by the judges.
In Olympic boxing, three Bounce athletes showed that they are well prepared for upcoming international challenges. Youth vice world champion Ivan Bezuhlyi was the boss in the ring against Amini Ilian (France) in the weight class up to 65 kilograms. He won unanimously on points, as did World Championship bronze medal winner Michael Fares Derouiche against the German Kober Ruslan and Arsen Chabyan against the Frenchman Biba Isuf. The big goal for all three is the 2028 Olympic Games.
Organizer Marcos Nader satisfied
Organizer and Bounce boss Marcos Nader was highly satisfied with the spectator interest and the course of the 18th Bounce Fight Night. There hasn’t been a boxing event at Heumarkt for more than 70 years, “this fight between Mobin Kahraze and Mansur Elsaev will go down in history,” he said.
Bounce Fight Night has established itself as the largest and most successful fight series in Austria. The next Bounce Fight Night will take place on November 27, 2026 at the Hotel Intercontinental Vienna.
Text: Press release / BC Bounce