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CHESSBOXING WM 2008 BERLIN

Gianluca ‚Il Dottore’ Sirci the new discovery in the heavyweight.

In the second fight of the evening the encounter betweeen the Itali-an heavyweight pro-boxer and the English fighter Andrew ‚The Rocks’ Castello took place.
Here clear advantages for Costello in chess were expected but Gianluca Sirci was able to defend well by a clever opening in the Sicilian Dragon Variation.
In the 4th boxing round Costello was given a warning for an apparent low-blow, the round going to Sirci on all four judges cards as a consequence. Afterwards Sirci made a severe mistake at the chessboard and Costello gained a decisive lead. From here on it was a metter of time before Costello claimed the match but Sirci had other ideas.
In the 8th round Sirci summoned all his considerable ringcraft and experience and swung hard at Costello who moved in to a clinch. With seconds to go in the round Costello then pushed Sirci who fell through the ropes. Sirci's shoulder was injured in the fall and refe-ree Holger Prokot, had no option but to disqualify Costello after the first deduction of points in round 4.
A rematch in London is already planned.

Piotr Pukos wins the first fight in the tournament of the International German Championship.

The Pole Piotr Pukos obtained the highly competitive victory against Sascha Wandkowsky on time penalty in the 7th round. Wandkowsky clearly had the upper hand in the boxing part of the contest but fai-led to recover from and uncharacteristic and early blunder on the chessboard.