Kickboxing, Faraoni beats Hurduc for the Iska heavyweight world championship

Mattia Faraoni remains king. In Rome, in a blazing Sports Hall for the 27th edition of Oktagon Tsunami, the champion of Italian kickboxing defended the Iska heavyweight world title (up to 95 kg category) against the Romanian Danut Hurduc. The home idol wins by unanimous decision after an epic match, which began with an injury after a few seconds and ended in triumph, with the usual heart put into the ring.

pharaoh superstar

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Faraoni (Team Raini) wants to give a show to a PalaTiziano all standing up for him in the main event of the evening. The iconic entrance is with the number 10 shirt of Francesco Totti’s Roma. His idol. Opposite is the tough Romanian Danut Hurduc, aka “The Happy Killer”. A solid athlete with an excellent career behind him: originally from Barlad, a Moldovan region of Romania, he presents himself with a score of 46 victories in 52 matches. After a few seconds there is a twist: the two tie up, Faraoni falls after an unauthorized throw from his opponent and his right knee twists. He consults with the corner and after the intervention of the medical staff the champion decides to continue. One point penalty for Hurduc, who appears tough and resists attacks. Until the twist of the second round, when he puts Faraoni down with a big right hook and subsequent count.

heart beyond the obstacle

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Faraoni however gets up, he doesn’t fit. He starts exchanging openly and a match for the ages and of sensational intensity emerges, in a continuous back and forth. The 5 3-minute rounds fly by and entertain the audience, who holds their breath and explodes at the moment of the verdict. The home idol defends his belt, mentions his physical problem (“I could have won by disqualification, but I continued”) and greets everyone with a message against violence and bullying, issues he has personally fought for years. Then, the plot twist. Bruno Suzano, winner of the previous match against Farcas, enters the ring and speaks: “Congratulations to both of you, you were two warriors. But now I want to challenge you”. Faraoni smiles, looks at Hurduc who asks for a rematch and proposes a confrontation between the two to decide the new challenger to the title. The PalaTiziano approves with a roar.

the other matches

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Spectacular also in the other matches of the card. The success of the Portuguese Bruno Suzano stands out, who in the co-main event knocks out the Romanian naturalized Italian Yuri Farcas with a deadly knee in the first round. Exciting, among the Super Prestige Fight, the confrontation between the Italian-Ukrainian Taras Hnatchuk and the Georgian Davit Kiria (category up to 72.5 kg). Thanks to a great exploit in the third round, scratched with effective and heavy combinations, Kiria wins by unanimous decision a high-level match.

Below are the main card results:

• Simone Manno wins against Alessio Freguglia by TKO (Mma, 3×5, -70.3kg)

• Francesco Fornasieri wins against Samuel Donato by KO (Mma, 3×5, -70.3kg)

• Domenico Lomurno wins against Aito Suenaga on points (Fight Code Rules, 3×3, -63.5kg)

• Roberto Oliva wins against Aito Kanda on points (Fight Code Rules, 3×3, -67kg)

• Hamada Azmani wins against Paolo Cannito on points (OR, 5X3, -57kg)

• Mustapha Haida vs Jamie Bates PARI (Fight Code Rules, 3×3, -77kg)

• Alin Calin Petrisor won against Rudi Mendes by KO (OR, 5X3, -70kg)

• Martine Michieletto wins against Eva Guillot on points (Fight Code Rules, 3×3, -57kg)

• Davit Kiria wins against Taras Hnatchuk by point (Fight Code Rules, 3×3, -72.5kg)

• Bruno Suzano wins against Yuri Farcas by KO (Fight Code Rules, 3×3, -95kg)

• Mattia Faraoni wins against Danut Hurduc on points (Fight Code Rules, 5×3, -95kg)