Undefeated Dutch prospect Steve Suppan won his first championship belt on Saturday night (April 2) when he beat Georgian Giorgi Kulumbegashvili for the vacant Universal Boxing Organization™ Youth World Super Lightweight title.
As the main event of a show promoted by Suppan Promotions at the Sporthal De Boei in Suppan´s hometown of Vinkeveen in The Netherlands, the fight unfolded at a high pace from the start but with the local man scoring with the cleaner shots.
Kulumbegashvili had come to fight his chance, and tried his best to frustrate Suppan from his southpaw stance, boxing with low guards and attempting to counter at every opportunity. But with a loud crowd cheering him on, Suppan would not be deterred and kept his composure well.
Suppan was often the aggressor in the fight, and did well to switch his attacks from body to head. Clearly the stronger man, the 21-year-old forced the visitor on the retreat and backed him up against the ropes where he unloaded his power combinations.
But Kulumbegashvili was as game as they come, and while he lost the rounds he always tried to fight back and made it a good bout to watch for the fans at ringside. Suppan tried to get him out of there inside the distance, but the Georgian made it through the ten rounds and did well in the process.
There was never any doubt that Suppan had been the better of the two, and all three judges saw the fight clearly in his favor with 100-91, 100-90 and 100-90 scores.
After just over a year in the paid ranks, Steve Suppan improved his record to 6-0-1 (4), and could be in line to take it to the next level and fight for the UBO Inter-Continental title in the near future. Giorgi Kulumbegashvili falls to 9-7 (4).