Dina Thorslund unified the WBO and WBC bantamweight titles today in Denmark, beating Yuliahn Luna by unanimous decision.
Scores were 97-93, 98-92, and 99-91 for Thorslund, the home fighter and also, clearly, the deserving winner. Bad Left Hook unofficially scored the fight 98-92 for Thorslund.
It wasn’t necessarily a dominant performance for Thorslund (20-0, 8 KO), but an obvious victory, as she was simply the better fighter round-to-round.
The aggression of Thorslund helped carry some rounds that were closer, but she also did really put her stamp on a few of them, and Luna (25-4-1, 4 KO) was never able to do that, trying to counter but not having enough real success to win more than two or three rounds in the fight.
“I would like to give an applause to Luna, because I want to be the best, and that means I have to meet the best. I just want to thank her for an amazing fight. This is what real boxers want, the tough fights,” Thorslund said after the win.
Thorslund was also joined in the ring by WBA titleholder Nina Hughes, who was on commentary for the bout. There was no animosity whatsoever between the two.
“Me and Nina want to meet. But she wants to meet Ebanie (Bridges) first to take the IBF and keep the WBA, then we can meet and fight for the four belts,” Thorslund said.
“I think Dina’s a great champion. She’s got two belts now, I want to take Ebanie Bridges’ belt off her so I have two belts, and we can fight for undisputed. It’d be a great fight and honor to share the ring with her,” Hughes said.
It was acknowledged that Bridges, at anyone’s last update, was not looking to fight Hughes next.
Undercard results
- Jacob Bank TKO-2 Almir Skrijelj (1:32)
- Hebert Conceicao TKO-2 Robert Talarek (1:35): Super middleweight Conceicao, who stole some eyeballs in Tokyo with a tremendous gold medal fight knockout win, did the job you’d hope he would do here. The Brazilian just busted the Polish veteran Talarek up in the second round, dropping him twice for the stoppage. Conceicao (5-0, 3 KO) will unfortunately struggle to find big fights given the promotional situation, but there is time, too, and if he really shows something, someone big might find a way to get him. At 25, he’s closer to a polished product than he is a raw prospect, and overall he projects probably about like other recent notable Brazilians who came out of the Olympics into the pros, but with a clear and key difference: When he sits down on shots, he can crack.
- Brook Eaton UD-4 Ester Konecna (39-37, 40-36, 40-36): A pro debut here for Eaton, a 23-year-old super middleweight from Romford. Gassed out a bit but also put a lot into the rounds, probably had some nerves on a pro debut, too, it’s natural. She has some promise. Someone to keep in mind for what is a very thin division. Really a very thin few divisions from 154 to 168, depending on what weight she might make over time. Early days, though, it’ll take time. But some clear promise. And even if, like me, about all you know of Romford is Johnny Fisher, Eaton showed a bit of “Romford spirit” in her post-fight interview, too.
- Payman Akbari UD-6 Pietro Caputo (59-54, 59-54, 60-53)
- Steven Cairns TKO-2 Marian Weselowski (0:50)
- Nesar Kunduzi UD-4 David Shervashidze (40-36, 40-36, 40-36)