Odelia Ben Ephraim to Defend Title in June

Odelia "Thunder" Ben Ephraim is scheduled to defend her French featherweight title on Friday, June 7 at Patinoire Municipale Jacques Raynaud in Blagnac, France. This is a hometown fight for Ben Ephraim, who trains out of the Blagnac Boxing Club.

The 24 year old has now recovered from an injury that forced her to pull out of a European title fight in January. With a record of 5-2, Ben Ephraim is an accurate volume puncher who throws intelligent and well-placed combinations.

Thunder last fought on November 24 when she captured the vacant French featherweight belt. In that contest, she gave an impressive performance against Lydie Bialic, a former sparring partner, although Odelia was somewhat disappointed with her showing. For this fight, she hopes to incorporate more of the skills she displays in training, such as changing angles and targeting the body to a greater degree.

Miroslav Kapuler Egregiously Robbed in Quaterfinals

The IBA, formerly known as AIBA, is a cesspool of corruption and incompetence. Officials and judges care nothing for fairness, honor, or healthy competition. They are more concerned with selling their precious medals to the highest bidder. The IBA is so maligned within the often seedy world of sport that even the International Olympic Committee wants nothing to do with them, banning the corrupt boxing organization from running the Olympic tournament.

Miroslav Kapuler, four days shy of his 27th birthday, was a casualty of the IBA's blatant corruption today in Belgrade, Serbia at the European amateur championships. Or, giving the IBA the benefit of the doubt, was simply a matter of inexcusable incompetence? Regardless, the Israeli junior middleweight is out of the tournament instead of assuming his rightful place in the semifinals.

In a competitive first round, Kapuler's jab proved accurate against Vasile Cebotari, a fellow southpaw from Moldova with a 15-0 pro record. Cebotari countered Kapuler's jab with varying degrees of success, but Kapuler's punches were certainly cleaner and more plentiful. Each of the five judges spent the first round carefully investigating their own colons rather than watching the bout, the only possible explanation for why all five gave the round to Cebotari.

In the second round, Kapuler snapped back Cebotari's head so often it was as if the Moldovan was listening to some imperceptible techno music. Cebotari had two nice spurts in the round but spent most of those three minutes eating punches. Even the highlights after the round confirmed the demolition that took place. Three judges gave credit to Cebotari's face for the damage it inflicted upon Kapuler's gloves. By the end of the second, three judges had improbably scored the bout 20-18 for the 22 year old from Traspol.

With the fight all but secured, Cebotari wisely held most of the third round, becoming intimately familiar with Kapuler's choice of cologne. Kapuler did all he could to coax his low-quality Green Hill pillows into scoring a knockout, but as much as his gloves pummeled Cebotari, Cebotari's senses would not scramble. The highlights after the round were basically all of Miroslav's continuous onslaught. Kapuler's only mistake all fight was being overeager. He hit on the break on several occasions, receiving a warning each time.

The verdict was announced as a split decision victory for Cebotari. The shameful scores curiously were not even revealed. Instead, the broadcast quickly moved to the next fight. Kapuler handled the indignation with grace; it was just another robbery in a frustratingly long list of them.


Update: The scores were 4-1 in favor of Cebotari. The Serbian judge, Maria Petrkovic, unbelievably scored each round for Cebotari, perhaps because the winner would face a fighter from Serbia.

Miroslav Kapuler Advances to Quarters in Europeans

Junior middleweight Miroslav Kapuler won his first two fights at the European amateur championships in Belgrade, Serbia run by the EUBC. The EUBC is affiliated with the IBA, who has been banned by the IOC (International Olympic Committee) from running the boxing tournament at the Olympics because of corruption. So this tournament is not an Olympic qualifier. Last year's European Games served as a qualifying tournament instead.

Kapuler, a southpaw who will turn 27 on April 28, is the lone pro boxer from the Israeli contingent. Pro boxers are allowed to fight in amateur tournaments since a rule change in 2016. Kapuler, who also uses the surname Ishchenko, is 3-0 as a pro and last fought for money in 2021. Prospect Yan Zak and Yonatan Arnon, also competed in the tourament for Israel.

Kapuler won his first preliminary bout by unanimous decision over Lithuania's Aleksandr Trofimcuk by boxing beautifully in the pocket: launching intelligent combinations and slipping Tromfimcuk's counters. In the round of 16 the next day, Kapuler completely controlled the contest against Pavel Kaminin, an Estonian from the ethnically Russian eastern city of Narva. Kapuler showed more aggression than usual and loaded up on sledgehammer lefts while Kaminin, who is 2-0 as a pro, mostly held Kapuler as if they were attending a high school dance. Referee Anar Babanli missed an early third round knockdown by Kapuler and then admonished the Israeli for rabbit punching when Kaminin turned his head and scolded Kapuler for arguing that point, but he was fair otherwise.

Heavyweight Yan Zak dominated 2020 Olympian Uladzislau Smiahlikau in the round of 16 by unanimous decision behind his jab and adroit footwork. Smiahlikau suffered a cut by his right eye in the third round. Astonishingly, two judges awarded the Belarussian with a round. In the quarterfinals, Zak faced his rival Loren Alfonso Dominguez of Azerbaijan. A slippery boxer in the Cuban mold, Alfonso fights with his hands down and embarrasses his opponents by making them miss and making them pay from odd angles. He was more serious than usual against Zak and seemed to barely edge the first two rounds. Zak pummeled Alfonso in the third, but three judges incredibly gave the round to Alfonso. Nevertheless, the right man won.

Middleweight Yonatan Arnon was stopped in the last second of his bout by an experienced opponent from Serbia, Almir Memic, in the round of 16. Arnon landed some counters and potshots, but was outclassed by Memic's pressure and looping right. Memic scored three standing eight counts and knocked out his Israeli opponent's mouthpiece several times.  A bit unfairly, the referee stopped the contest with no time left.

Kapuler fights in the quarterfinals against Vasile Cebotari, a Moldovan who is 15-0 as a pro, on Wednesday April 24 in the evening session.

Jackson Off Tomorrow’s Card

Lev Jackson had been scheduled to fight Mathusan Mahindas in a junior welterweight bout in Toronto tomorrow. Jackson is now off the card and Mahindas is slated to fight Viacheslav Shulevskyi.

A week and a half ago, Jackson told The Jewish Boxing Blog that the fight was up in the air. He had said that he felt “chunky” weighing 138 pounds for his last fight, so it was surprising to see the fight with Mahindas scheduled for junior welterweight.

The cancellation was surely disappointing for Jackson, who had his heart set on this matchup. Hopefully, Jackson will get a fight soon.