Sebastian Sylvester defended his IBF middleweight title on Saturday night in Neubrandenburg when he and mandatory challenger Roman Karmazin settled for a draw in front of a wild crowd of 4,500 fans. After 12 close rounds, the scores were 118-111, 111-117 and 114-114. “I am pleased to have defended my title,” Sylvester said. “It was a close, tough fight. Although Karmazin was more active, I landed the clearer shots. I think I was up a few rounds.”

Sylvester, whose strong defense absorbed most of Karmazin’s punches, turned it on in the later rounds when he punished his opponent with one-two combinations. “Sebastian really connected well later on and the fight was close to being stopped in the 11th,” coach Karsten Rower said. “If Sebastian had landed one or two more punches then, he could have stopped him. Karmazin was a tough opponent with a higher work-rate, but Sebastian landed the better shots and also worked well to the body.”

The 37-year-old Russian, whose left eye was badly swollen, felt he had won the fight. “It was a close encounter,” he said. “I had problems to find my rhythm in the first round because I got a thumb into my eye early. In round six I had problems with my liver so I really had to hang in there between rounds six and ten not to lose my focus. I felt I threw more punches and should have won the fight.” Promoter Kalle Sauerland disagreed, “If you look into the two fighter’s faces, you know who won – Sebastian is almost unmarked, while Karmazin’s face is swollen. It was an exciting fight on a very high level. Congratulations to both men.”