Merero falters in Russia

Local heavyweight Vikapita ‘Beast Master’ Merero was beaten via a technical knockout in the eighth round of a non-title cruiserweight fight by Russia’s Evgenyi Romanov on Friday night at the Luzales Arena in Syktyvkar, Russia.

The eight-round non-title fight in Russia did not go in favour of Namibian heavyweight, 37-year-old Merero, as he was defeated by Russia’s Romanov, also 37 years old.

Romanov dropped Meroro in round seven and was victorious when Meroro didn’t come out for round eight. Romanov is currently treading water in his career as he waits for the World Boxing Council (WBC) to lift the ban on Russian boxers fighting for world titles.

Despite the loss, Merero’s trainer and promoter, Immanuel ‘Ace’ Moses, believes that the boxer performed well as it was a competitive fight.

"I feel like Merero was dominating in terms of points.

‘‘However, Romanov was a strong fighter. We had a game plan for Merero to box and move. But even if you box and move, you will eventually get tired if you are fighting a big guy. The punches that Merero was giving tired him down.

Eventually, he told me that Romanov was too strong for him. I tried to push him to get him back into the fight, but the Russian was too strong. We don’t have money to host fights, so we take fights which we feel we can win," Moses added.

The trainer and promoter also added that despite the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine, they feel safe.

However, despite the sentiments from the trainer on Merero’s performance, some boxing fans on the Sport Wrap Facebook page believe that it is time for Merero to step away from boxing.

Berro Phillipus Desire stated that the boxer should leave the ring to younger boxers.

This is Merero’s second defeat this year, having lost to Kazakstan’s Alexander Frank in May. Last September, he suffered a defeat to another Kazakstani, Danila Semenov.

This brings Merero’s fights to 42, with 30 wins, 12 losses, and zero draws.