Fight of the evening at the gala KSW 96 in Łódź was a rematch for the clash between Paweł Pawlak and Damian Janikowski on KSW 63 in Warsaw three years ago. At that time, Pawlak won a fascinating duel by unanimous decision of the judges, and their clash was declared the main event of that gala.
At the gala in Łódź both players They were already competing for the KSW middleweight championship belt held by Pawlak. The current champion was the favorite, but both competitors knew that this time the full distance of the fight was five rounds, not three, as in the previous fight. This made both of them much more cautious, and this translated into much less emotion.
Only towards the end of the second round did both fighters become more active. Then Pawlak managed to take Janikowski to the ground, but he didn't have time to do anything more. The vast majority of the fight was fought in the standing position, and it's hard to say that Pawlak and Janikowski showered each other with punches or kicks.
Everything indicated that before the last round, Pawlak, who was much more effective in his actions, had the advantage on the scorecards, so in the fifth round Janikowski had to attack. Maybe he couldn't handle it anymore, or maybe after just Pawlak did not allow him to do so.
After the final bell and 25 minutes of an uninteresting fight, it became clear that Paweł Pawlak would defend his KSW middleweight championship belt. And so it happened. The 35-year-old from Łódź won against Janikowski again by unanimous decision (50:45, 50:44, 50:45) and can still enjoy the status of being undefeated in six years and eleven fights.
KSW 96 Gala Results:
- Paweł Pawlak (23-4-1) defeated Damian Janikowski (10-5) by unanimous decision.
- Maria Silva (11-1) defeated Ewelina Woźniak (8-3) by unanimous decision.
- Radosław Paczuski (6-2) defeated Kacper Karski (8-5) by technical knockout in the 3rd round.
- Adam Brysz (3-1) defeated Hugo Deux (3-1) by knockout in the 2nd round.
- Welisson dos Santos Paiva (10-2) defeated Maciej Kazieczko (9-4) by technical knockout in the 3rd round.
- Dawid Śmiełowski (11-1) defeated Bartłomiej Kopera (13-8) by unanimous decision.
- Marek Samociuk (6-4) defeated Denis Górniak (6-2) by technical knockout in the 1st round.
- Michał Domin (7-3) defeated Isai Ramos (8-2) by technical knockout in the 2nd round.