Bantamweight Champ Sidorenko Faces Another Panamanian

This Saturday undefeated WBA bantamweight title holder and Ring Magazine’s #3 ranked 118-pounder Wladimir Sidorenko (21-0-2) puts his title on the line against Ring’s #9 Panamanian Anselmo Moreno (21-1) in Düsseldorf, Germany. The fight will not be covered on American television but that doesn’t mean it isn’t of great interest to www.jabandgrapple.com.

You see, Mister Sidorenko is most likely a distant relative of yours truly. The Sydor, Sedor, Sidor name and all its Cyrillic-derived variations is not very common. My grandfather also did indeed immigrate from the Ukraine, Sidorenko’s home country. But what does he fight like? Graham Houston, the fight writer, describes him as “one of those hard-working, well-schooled fighters who had a thorough grounding in the amateurs (including winning an Olympic bronze medal) and he is durable and adaptable.”

See for yourself below in Part Two of his most recent fight, a 12-round decision over the tough Japanese boxer Nobuto Ikehara in Osaka.

Click on parts One, Two, Three, Four, and Five for the rest of the fight.

Despite his odds as a 3:1 favorite this weekend’s fight should be a tough battle. Sidorenko’s two draws both came against Ricardo Cordoba, another Panamanian as well as Moreno’s training partner. Sidorenko will have no secrets. In fact Moreno was in Cordoba’s corner for the second of the two fights. Below are some very poor quality Ukranian highlights of that bout. The comments on that youtube page have elicited comments for each fighter’s fanbase claiming robbery. Saturday’s match-up should be interesting.

Also on the Universum Champions Night card is the WIBF/WBC female featherweight champion Ina Menzer (20-0) and Russian cruiserweight Alexander Alekseev (14-0).