Armand Krajnc vs Paolo Roberto

The first world championship contest between two Swedish boxers had to be fought in Germany, where Armand Krajnc retained his WBO middleweight title against Paolo Roberto after twelve rounds at Lübeck’s Hansehalle on 3 November 2001. Sweden’s prohibition of professional boxing prevented the meeting from taking place at home, but the rivalry travelled with the fighters. Krajnc won unanimously, surviving Roberto’s vigorous opening before imposing the cleaner, heavier combinations. The challenger remained upright throughout, although his punishment in the sixth round raised serious questions about whether he should have been allowed to continue. It was Krajnc’s third successful defence and his twenty-sixth victory without defeat.

Universum Box Promotion staged the contest on a bill which also included Juan Carlos Gómez’s WBC cruiserweight defence against Pietro Aurino. Both Swedish middleweights weighed 160 pounds. Krajnc had won his championship by stopping Jason Matthews in the eighth round in November 1999, then retained it against Jonathan Corn and the previously unbeaten Bert Schenk. Roberto, better known to the wider Swedish public through his television and film appearances, had already failed in a world title challenge against Javier Castillejo at light middleweight. Four subsequent victories brought him to this opportunity against his countryman. The preparations had been marked by personal exchanges, with Roberto particularly offended by Krajnc’s disparaging assessment of his boxing. Both agreed, however, that a contest of this domestic importance ought to have been held in Sweden.

Roberto made the better start. He attacked the body and brought a hard left hook upstairs, forcing the champion to respond before he had settled into his preferred rhythm. All three judges awarded the opening round to the challenger. Roberto continued aggressively in the second, answering Krajnc’s combinations with further lefts and refusing to concede the initiative. In the third, Krajnc began finding the distance for his longer sequences of punches. Roberto still struck back, but the champion was becoming more effective whenever he could obtain room. The fourth illustrated the danger of an unsuccessful entry: Roberto missed a left swing, and Krajnc promptly countered with a right which shook him. The challenger held on and reached the interval.

Through the fifth, Roberto tried to shorten the range and prevent Krajnc from boxing freely. He landed a hard left, but the champion answered in combinations and generally found his target more readily. The sixth brought the most severe crisis. Krajnc connected heavily and followed with a sustained succession of head punches. Roberto swayed under the blows, his defence badly disorganised, yet somehow kept his feet. There was no knockdown to interrupt the attack, and neither referee Joachim Jacobsen nor the challenger’s corner ended the contest. Contemporary Swedish accounts strongly criticised the decision to let the punishment continue. Two judges scored the round 10-8 for Krajnc despite Roberto’s remaining on his feet; the third made it 10-9.

Roberto came out for the seventh still attempting to get close, but his fatigue was apparent. He held, worked with short punches and tried to deny Krajnc the space in which his combinations were most effective. The champion again landed enough to threaten a repetition of the previous round, without securing the finish. In the eighth, Roberto had greater success in crowding him against the ropes and tying up his arms. The repeated holding drew disapproval from the spectators and a warning from Jacobsen. Krajnc was also showing the effects of the pace and could not consistently move clear of the challenger’s embraces. Roberto’s methods were untidy, but they helped him remain in a contest which had come close to ending two rounds earlier.

The later rounds followed much the same tactical division. Roberto sought close quarters, while Krajnc needed a little separation to deliver his straight punches and combinations. In the ninth, the challenger landed an uppercut and pressed forward, only to be shaken again when Krajnc found room to answer. Roberto connected with a left in the tenth but was warned for keeping his head low as he moved into the clinches. By the eleventh, much of his effort went into holding and preventing uninterrupted attacks. Krajnc remained the cleaner puncher, although he could not always free himself promptly enough to exploit the advantage. In the twelfth, another series left Roberto unsteady. The champion sought a stoppage, but the challenger held on, continued trying to reply and lasted to the bell.

Artur Ellensohn returned a score of 118 to 111, Esa Lehtosaari 118 to 110 and Henk Adriaansen 117 to 111, all for Krajnc. The scorecards reflected a clear victory rather than the close struggle suggested by Roberto’s persistent activity. All three judges gave Krajnc the third, fourth, sixth, seventh, ninth and final rounds. Roberto had troubled him early and frustrated him later, but had been unable to match the quality of his work at punching distance. Krajnc retained his championship without a disputed decision, while Roberto’s record became twenty three victories, three defeats and one draw.

Afterwards, Roberto acknowledged the result without qualification. “He won. Nothing to argue about,” he said, adding that he was too short for the higher weight. He admitted being badly shaken in both the sixth and twelfth rounds, while maintaining that he had recovered during the eighth. There was talk of another meeting, but also of returning to a lighter division or retiring, a decision he told Swedish radio he would discuss with his family. The personal hostility had diminished sufficiently for the boxers to joke together. The sporting distinction remained plain: Roberto had shown considerable endurance, but Krajnc had done the more effective boxing and deserved the verdict.

I can see why this caught Sweden’s attention. Roberto’s celebrity and the personal rivalry gave Krajnc publicity that his championship wins hadn’t brought him. But once the early excitement settled, the difference in boxing quality showed.

Roberto’s left hook troubled Krajnc early, but the champion found his distance and landed the cleaner combinations. Getting close and holding helped Roberto survive, although Krajnc should have moved his feet better to escape it. The points verdict was right.

My concern is the sixth. Roberto stayed upright while taking repeated punches without an adequate defence. I respect his determination, but I’d have wanted it stopped. Being able to stand isn’t enough reason to let a boxer keep taking punishment.