Split decision causes discussion – Fai Phannarai Netisri defends WBF belt in St. Pauli against Niorkis Carreno.
Hamburg’s unbeaten super-bantamweight Fai Phannarai Netisri (18-0, 6 knockouts) has successfully defended her WBF world title. In the cult location Große Freiheit 36 in St. Pauli, she prevailed on Saturday evening after ten hard-fought rounds with a split decision victory against the dangerous Venezuelan Niorkis Carreno (25-6, 20 knockouts).
The judges scored the fight closely: one judge saw Carreno ahead with 97-93, the other two decided 96-94 in favor of the defending champion. Netisri thus remains unbeaten – but the decision caused displeasure. Many fans in the arena booed, as Carreno landed clear punches, especially in the opening rounds, and dominated the pressure.
Phannarai was self-critical after the fight: “She was clearly a very tough opponent. I’m happy to have retained my title. But if it’s up to me, we can always have a rematch,” said the champion.
In the co-main event, Croatia’s Vinko Zadro (9-0, 9 knockouts) provided an exclamation mark. The light heavyweight stopped Bosnia’s Aleksandar Ivanovic (7-1, 5 knockouts) with a hard body shot in round three and ended the fight in the fourth round. He thus secured the WBF International title and extended his impressive knockout streak.