Artur Grigorian vs Giorgio Campanella

Not one of the three judges awarded the challenger a completed round before the contest ended in the tenth. Artur Grigorian retained his WBO lightweight championship against Giorgio Campanella at the Sporthalle in Alsterdorf, Hamburg, on 24 October 1998. Referee Genaro Rodriguez stopped the scheduled twelve-round contest at one minute and 36 seconds of the tenth, completing the champion’s sixth successful defence.

Grigorian entered unbeaten in 24 professional contests. The Uzbek southpaw had won the vacant championship against Antonio Rivera in April 1996, then defended against Gene Reed, Marty Jakubowski, Raul Horacio Balbi, David Armstrong and Marco Rudolph. His sixth-round stoppage of Rudolph seven months earlier had avenged a defeat in the final of the 1991 World Amateur Championships. Campanella was making his third world championship challenge after losses to Oscar De La Hoya and Regilio Tuur at super featherweight. He had dropped De La Hoya in the opening round before being stopped in the third, while Tuur had beaten him over twelve rounds.

In Hamburg, Campanella could not establish a foothold on the scorecards. Grigorian swept the opening seven rounds on all three cards and maintained his advantage through the eighth and ninth. Gerald Scott and Dave Hess awarded him every completed round, each scoring the contest 90–81. Joachim Jacobsen scored the eighth even but gave Grigorian the other eight rounds, leaving the champion ahead 90–82 entering the tenth.

The finish came midway through that round, removing any need for a decision and extending Grigorian’s unbeaten record to 25 victories. Campanella’s third championship challenge ended in another defeat, while Grigorian completed his second successful defence of 1998. The champion had conceded only a single even round across the three judges’ cards before securing the stoppage.

I rated Grigorian as a champion who deserves more attention. He came into this defence after stopping Marco Rudolph, settling an old amateur defeat, and Campanella was facing an unbeaten southpaw with considerable experience behind him. Campanella’s knockdown of Oscar De La Hoya had shown he could spring a surprise, but that alone wasn’t enough here.

For me, the scorecards tell you how firmly Grigorian controlled the contest. Campanella hadn’t won a completed round on any card when the tenth-round stoppage came. That’s a clear defeat, although I wouldn’t dismiss a man who had challenged De La Hoya, Regilio Tuur and Grigorian as lacking ambition or courage.

There’s very little detailed coverage of this one online, so my advice is straightforward: sit back, watch the video and make your own mind up. Pay attention to how the exchanges develop, rather than judging the whole fight by its finish.