Souleymane Cissokho W12 Egidijus Kavaliauskas... At the Sipopo Conference Centre in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, Souleymane Cissokho defeated Egidijus Kavaliauskas by unanimous decision in a key welterweight bout. Cissokho had to fight hard to win this bout, a WBC eliminator. The first round was typically cautious on the part of both fighters, but the action came alive in the second when Lithuanian Kavaliauskas (24-3-1, 19 KOs) landed a left hook that sent his opponent to the canvas. Having felt Kavaliauskas’s power, Cissokho knew it was time to change his strategy and box with more movement. Rounds three and four were more successful for Cissokho, who managed to counter his opponent’s attacks with precise jabs. However, once again, Cissokho found himself in a difficult situation in the fifth round, having been knocked down again. With Kavaliauskas pressing, knowing he was destabilizing Cissokho, he looked to finish the fight. But Cissokho wouldn’t be defeated. He returned to the fight to survive the remainder of the round before regrouping for the second half of the fight.

 

The seventh and eighth rounds were difficult and tense for Cissokho, but he emerged unscathed. The ninth round was more beneficial for the Frenchman, as he punished his opponent, who seemed to have expended a lot of energy. Kavaliauskas was visibly fatigued and his pressure decreased considerably. He had to deal more with Cissokho’s movement and jabs in the tenth and eleventh rounds. In the final round, Kavaliauskas made a final push to trouble his opponent for the third time, but Cissokho held on to claim the most important victory of his career thus far. The scores were 114-112, 115-111, and 116-110 in favor of Cissokho (20-0, 9 KOs including the World Series of Boxing).