French champion Samuel Dbili faced Bulgarian competitor Branko Babachev on November 30 in Perpignan, France. The pair battled it out for WKN European super middleweight title in oriental kickboxing. The contest headlined the event titled “Fight Furious Tour 2019”, presented by Christophe Errera.
The encounter went a full distance. In the opening round the representative of the country-host scored a standing knockdown with a series of punches and knee. During the following rounds he survived the pressure coming from his Bulgarian opponent and countered.
П†SAMUEL DBILI П‡«ÐŸ‡· BECOMES NEW #WKN EUROPEAN SUPER MIDDLEWEIGHT CHAMPION BY DECISION AGAINST BRANKO BABACHEV П‡§ÐŸ‡¬ PIC.TWITTER.COM/MR0GYA2TAV
— WORLD KICKBOXING NETWORK (@WKNKICKBOXING) DECEMBER 2, 2019
Babachev worked on the front foot, landing power hands. Dbili fought back, throwing punches and attempted to land another knee.
In the fourth round Babachev was deducted a point for catching and holding his opponent’s kicks. In the end Dbili was awarded a split decision.
In addition to the belt Samuel Dbili updated his record to 9-3, 6 KO. Branko Babachev dropped to 9-3, 2 KO.
The championship supervisor was Habib Bakir.
The rest of the card saw five finals of world championship in amateur Savate (French boxing), pro-fight in Savate, and kickboxing super bout.
The Dbili vs. Babachev championship bout was held on the same day (Nov. 30) as WKN World Cup in Auckland, NZ (results) and X’ite Fight Night 7 (results) in Trittau, Germany.
The event marked the seventh visit of World Kickboxing Network to France for 2019.
WKN European Super Middleweight title / Oriental rules / 5x3mn
Samuel Dbili (France) def. Branko Babachev (Bulgaria) by split decision