Eva Wahlström Retains Title, Has Taylor In Sight

By Mikko Salo: The home crowd in Kulttuuritalo, Helsinki was treated to an evenly contested, actively fought main event, with super featherweight world#1 Eva Wahlström (22-0-1, 3 KO) holding on to her alphabet belt over a very game American Melissa St. Vil (10-3-4, 1 KO).

The final score was a majority decision by scores of 96-94, 97-93, 95-95 for the popular Finnish star. Wahlström was the more skilled fighter but aggressive St. Vil had her moments during the bout. The judges´ scores reflected the goings-on in the ring. After the fight Wahlström was asked about a possible future encounter with Irish superstar, Boxrec.com lightweight world #2 Katie Taylor (8-0, 4 KO). ”I guess it is inevitable in the near future”, replied the undefeated Finn.

In the co-featured main event, a match for the Light Heavyweight Finnish Championship, Cuban-Finnish showman Dayron Lester (10-1, 6 KO) scored a controversial 8th round TKO over former European level contender Niklas Räsänen (14-2-1, 8 KO). At the moment referee Anssi Peräjoki stopped the bout, Räsänen did not seem to be unable to defend himself although being under duress after suffering a heavy knockdown via a thunderous Lester right hand. A rematch is probable.

On the undercard, Ukrainian Andrii Velikovskyi (11-2, 6 KO) TKOed Henri Kekäläinen (10-5, 4 KO) in the 7th Round in an entertaining middleweight contest. Light middleweight Tomi Silvennoinen (7-1, 4 KO) grinded out a 6-round unanimous decision against Swede Johannes Vinasco (5-1, 3 KO). In a cruiserweight contest, Samuli Kärkkäinen (7-0, 1 KO) scored a hard-fought 6-round unanimous decision over Ivan Lysytsia (3-8, 2 KO) from Ukraine. Light heavyweight warrior Timo Laine (22-10-1, 6 KO) prevailed via a 4-round unanimous decision over Russian Stanislav Sergeev (1-5-1) and Timo Hirvikangas (6-1, 3 KO) scored a 4-round unanimous decision over Russian Alisher