Boxing, Lorusso loses the European title: Essomba beats him on points

Alessio Lorusso leaves the European bantamweight title in the hands of Thomas Essomba. This is the outcome of the boxing evening held in Monza. The boxer born in Cameroon but residing in Sheffield was awarded a bitter but honestly shareable verdict: two judges saw 116-112, the third 117-111. In Lorusso’s boxing, usually made up of speed (Mosquito, his alias, didn’t come by chance) and great timing, almost nothing worked. Rigid on the trunk, he has practically never found the distance with the jab, not worrying the opponent even with sudden changes of guard.

Essomba, experience and speed

Essomba is not a phenomenon, but he is an expert boxer with a record made up of many away games, with some defeats even if rarely severe. He was able to immediately read the match by catching Lorusso’s time, he was always faster both with the straight right blocker and with the left hook – his best shot -, for which Lorusso was unable to find an antidote.

Where Lorusso lost the title

Where did the Lombard boxer lose his title? Talking with hindsight is convenient, but against an unpredictably fast opponent despite his 35 years, Lorusso should have ‘exploited’ the home crowd more (the cMonza captain Matteo Pessina), turn the match into a battle for survival. It would have been useful, taking the risks of the case, to shorten the distance so as not to give Essomba the opportunity to assert his choice of timing.

He didn’t succeed, and Italian boxing sees one of its three European titles in the men’s field vanish (those of Mauro Forte in the featherweight and Matteo Signani in the middleweight remain). Too bad for Lorusso, a handsome character, first known for his tattoos, but then also for his skill in the ring and social commitment. In his plans there was a world championship, this hiccup inevitably slows down the march. However, his age (27 years) will allow him to try again soon. Getting up after a fall, basically the movie of his life has always been this.