Former IBF world champion Vincenzo Gualtieri suffers a bitter T.K.O. defeat against unbeaten Amari Jones in the IBF eliminator and has to bury his world championship plans for the time being
Former IBF middleweight world champion Vincenzo Gualtieri has suffered a major setback after his third premature defeat. The German lost to Amari Jones by T.K.O. last night at the Sap Center in San Jose, California.
Gualtieri (25-2-1, 8 knockouts) suffered a bitter defeat in the IBF eliminator for the currently vacant middleweight title. As a result, his hopes of becoming a two-time world champion were dealt a significant blow.
Jones (17-0, 15 knockouts) is now likely to face the winner of the scheduled IBF clash between Etinosa Oliha and Aaron McKenna for the vacant IBF middleweight title. The unbeaten American was ranked fourth in the IBF world rankings before the fight, while Gualtieri was ranked fifth. Despite his disappointing performance, however, the 33-year-old from Wuppertal is likely to remain in the IBF’s top 15 and could theoretically make another attempt at a world title fight.
However, after the clear defeat in the USA, Gualtieri must now reconsider his future in professional boxing. Jones sent the German to the floor with a right jab after a hard combination to the body. Gualtieri got back to his feet, but the end was already in sight.
Jones then continued to work his opponent’s body in a controlled manner and finally pushed Gualtieri to the ring ropes, where he ended the fight with a right-left combination. The official time of the stoppage was 2:29 minutes.
Jones promoter Oscar De La Hoya told DAZN after the fight: “I saw maturity, calmness and patience – and yet aggression. That was an absolute masterstroke.”