Gianluca Branco vs. Leonard Bundu

All-Italian battle for the European welterweight title on April 22nd.

Present champion Branco was scheduled to meet Italian-American former two-division world champ Paulie Malignaggi in December but negotiations fell apart. Malignaggi instead fought Antonio Moscatiello for & claimed the lesser-regarded vacant EBU-EU title (which Branco held in 2012-2013).

Bundu was the previous Euro champ, and never lost the belt in the ring. He was stripped when he challenged Keith Thurman unsuccessfully for the WBA title (previously held by Malignaggi).

Both have been on the shelf for a while. Bundu last fought ten months ago with a rebound UD8 against Pablo "Sepulterero" Munguia. Branco hasn't fought since November 2014 when he captured the vacant belt in a war of attrition with Rafael Jackiewicz and somehow miraculously hasn't been stripped despite not making a defense since.

They're 86 years old combined. :!:

 

Nope.

 

...but yeah, this should be a wide UD for Bundu.

Even in his "prime" (by which I mean his mid-thirties) Branco came up well short of world class - dropped & defeated by Gatti, and dominated & stopped by Cotto. Six years ago Matt Hatton comfortably bested him on 2 weeks' notice.

Bundu meanwhile is just on the bubble of world class IMO. Not quite all the way there perhaps but much closer than his countryman.

...and stylistically the older man is just made for him to devour. Branco will plod forward sweeping hooks and get eluded & lit up with counters.

 

Yeah. Bundu knocked Moscatiello out four years ago; Malignaggi decisioned him four months ago.

 

Poll will go up next time I am in front of a computer (not on a phone) other than in the middle of the night when it makes no sense to bother since poll end dates can only be in 24 hour increments from when they're made. :good

 

Crazily enough, Gianluca's brother Silvio fought until an even riper age - upsetting much younger Finnish then-prospect Haapoja just a month before his 47th birthday.

 

If he somehow manages to successfully defend here, Gianluca should consider following his brother's example and leaving on a high note. There are too many young guns jockeying for position in the Euro scene to ensure him many chances to do so.

Maybe if he wants to stretch it take on Malignaggi for one more defense after Bundu. I think Branco probably could beat him, especially if on home ground.

 

True but Mouhamed Ali Ndiaye is much darker-skinned than Bundu and was both popular & consistently treated with equitable fairness in the ring. (got appropriately wide scorecards in his UD over fan-fave Cocco, got a hometown gift in Rebrasse I (and Rebrasse is pale white, but an outsider...so maybe nationalism outweighed racism there) and Massimo Barrovecchio called his match with Di Luisa down the middle, docking more points from ADL than from MAN. :conf

 

...and Bundu has the home state advantage. He is a decade-long plus residence of Florence, whereas Branco's home of Civitavecchia is 250 kilometers away.

So I wouldn't fret about geographical/crowd/official bias - although judges universally do favor work rate, and that I could see being a problem if Branco has enough in his tank for one more night of going hard from the first bell until the last, and Bundu lapses into a point-scoring mindset and rests on his laurels after landing a few nice counters and letting Branco outwork him and "steal" rounds...

 

Poll up.

 

Odds are out already. Bundu is favored at 2/5 and Branco is a 15/8 underdog.

 

Orlando Fiordigiglio on the undercard, along with Moroccan-Tuscan flyweight prospect Mohammed Obbadi.