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5'1" flyweight Susianna "Susi" Kentikian was born on September 11, 1987
in Jerevan, Armenia and fights out of Hamburg, Germany.
She went to Germany with her family in 1996, seeking
asylum from the civil war in Armenia, under constant threat of expulsion. More
than once the family was dragged out of bed by the German police in the middle of the
night and transported to the airport for deportation. Fortunately actual
expulsion was avoided through the intervention, of among others, Susianna's
boxing trainer Frank Rieth.
Kentikian first encountered boxing when she
accompanied her brother Mikael to a boxing club. Not content just to watch him
train, Susi learned to box herself and won the Hamburg Championships for
juniors from 2001 to 2004, as well as several North German amateur
championships.
She won a gold medal in the featherweight division
at the 2004 International German Women's Amateur Championships by beating
Tasheena Bugar 27-19 in the semi-final and Alessandra Sieber by 27-5 in the
final. She was also named best technical boxer in the junior division at
these championships.
As an amateur, Susianna had been restricted to boxing in Hamburg by her family's status as asylum
seekers. She turned pro so her boxing income could be considered as a factor in obtaining a residence permit. Her final record in the amateurs was an
impressive 24-1-0.
On January 15, 2005 at Bördelandhalle, Magdeburg, Germany
Susianna (112 lbs) won her pro debut with a four-round unanimous (40-36) decision over
Iliana Boneva (5'3", 112½ lbs) of Bulgaria.
On February 26, 2005 at Color Line Arena in Hamburg, Germany
Susianna (115¾ lbs) knocked out Debbie Lohmaier Paterok (5' 0½", 115¾ lbs) of
Oldenburg, Germany with a hard punch to the head at 1:25 in the first
round of a scheduled four-rounder. Lohmaier, who had not fought in almost three
years, fell to 1-4-0 (0 KOs) with the loss
 On March 25, 2005 at Sporthalle in Hamburg, Germany
Susianna (114¾ lbs) TKO'd Lucie Hornakova (114¼ lbs) of Košice, Slovakia
at 0:37 into the
first round of a scheduled four-rounder (see photo). Hornakova fell to 0-2 with
the loss.
On May 7, 2006 at the Volkswagenhalle in Braunschweig, Germany, Susianna (107¾ lbs) TKO'd
debut fighter Juliia Vlasenko (104¾ lbs) of Slovakia in the third round of a scheduled
four-rounder. The bout was stopped when Vlasenko turned her back on Kentikian
after taking a combination.
On June 4, 2006 at Ballhaus, Aschersleben, Staßfurt, Germany
Susianna TKO'd pro debut fighter Albena Atseva of Sofia, Bulgaria at 1:33 in the second round of a scheduled six-rounder.
On July 2, 2005 in Hamburg, Germany,
Susianna (108 lbs) made a short night of it when she
stopped Simona Pencakova of Medzev, Slovakia at 1:14 into the second round by
TKO. Pencakova fell to 0-1-1.
On September 17, 2005 at Harzlandhalle in Ilsenburg, Germany,
Susianna TKO'd Renata Vesecka of the Czech Republic at 0:58 in the
fourth round. Vesecka fell to 2-7-0 (2 KO's).
On October 29, 2005 at TURM Erlebnis City in Orianenburg, Germany, Susianna
TKO'd Svetla Taskova of Sofia, Bulgaria at 1:08 in the second round of a
scheduled six rounder. Taskova fell to 4-12-1 (1 KO) with the loss.
On December 13, 2005 at Freizeit Arena in Sölden, Tirol, Austria,
Susianna (107½ lbs) won a six-round unanimous (60-54 x3) decision over
debut fighter Maria Krivoshapkina of Russia.
Kentikian was named WBAN's Rookie of the Year for 2005.
On January 14, 2006 at Ballhaus-Arena in Aschersleben,
Staßfurt, Germany,
in front of a sold-out arena, Susianna TKO'd pro debut fighter Emilina Metodieva
of Bulgaria in the fourth round of a scheduled six-rounder.
vs. Evgenia Zablotskaja
On April 15, 2006 at the
Maritim Hotel in Magdeburg, Germany, Susianna returned to the ring after a
three-month layoff following surgery to her right elbow. According to WBAN
correspondent Torben Lodberg, "Her performance left nobody in doubt that she is
back at full strength. Her opponent, Evgenia Zablotskaja of Russia made her pro
debut, after a good amateur career. Although she had a distinctive height and
reach advantage, it couldn't prevent her from being "run over" by a very
aggressive Kentikian, who used her speed to outbox the taller opponent. After
1:32 into the second round Zablotskaja's corner threw the towel to prevent
further punishment."
On July 28, 2006 at Sportschule Sachenwald near
Hamburg, Germany, Susianna (112 lbs) won a 10-round unanimous (98-92,98-92,99-91)
decision over Daniela Graf (110½ lbs) of Karlsruhe for the International German
title. Fought in 100-degree heat and high humidity that had
brought most of Europe to a standstill, the
18-year-old (dubbed 'The Pitbull' by her sparring partners) drove Graf all round
the ring for twenty minutes without ever quite getting a grip. "It was very
hot," explained Kentikian. "As early as the first round, I was fighting
for breath."
According
to WBAN correspondent Torben Lodberg, "Although
the score may suggest a one sided fight, this was by no means the case. Daniela
Graf came well prepared for Kentikian's fighting style, and managed to put up a
much better defence, than Kentikian's previous 11 opponents - nine of who were
stopped before time. Graf, who fought 10 rounds against Julia Sahin in October
of last year, also managed to put Kentikian under pressure throughout the bout.
Kentikian probably faced more incoming fire than in her in all her previous
fights put together. But Kentikian's fast hands and excellent footwork made the
difference in this fight. Kentikian piled up points on good combinations
throughout the bout, and her swift body movements made Graf miss a lot of
punches. Daniela Graf had her best moments when she managed to get on the
inside." Graf fell to 3-5-1 with the loss.
On September 9, 2006 at the Bördelandhalle in Magdeburg, Germany, Susianna (112
lbs) won the WIBF Intercontinental Flyweight title with a fourth-round TKO over
Maribel Zurita (111¼ lbs) of San Antonio, Texas, who
fell to 8-8-1 (1 KO) with the loss. The fight was stopped when Zurita was cut,
with some controversy over whether it was by an accidental head-butt or by a
legal blow.
On November 21, 2006 at the Universum Gym in Hamburg, Germany, Susianna (112
lbs) won by a TKO at 1:35 in the fourth round over Maja Frenzel (111¼ lbs) of
Karlsruhe, Germany, defending the WIBF Intercontinental Flyweight title. Frenzel
fell to 8-6-2 (1 KO) with the loss.
On February 16, 2007 at the
Fight Night Arena in Köln, Germany, Susianna ( lbs) won the vacant WBA
Flyweight title with TKO at o:27 in the ninth-round over previously unbeaten
Carolina Alvarez ( lbs) of Venezuela. As
reported by Wolfgang
Schiffbauer of Fightnews.com, "Susianna Kentikian captured the vacant WBA
Female Flyweight title by ninth round TKO against tough but completely
outclassed Carolina Alvarez from Venezuela. Alvarez was very wild with her
punches, had nearly no defense and was unable to get away from Kentikian’s hard
counters. Kentikian couldn’t miss with her punches during the first five rounds.
In the sixth, however, Alvarez had some success as she was able to corner
Kentikian and land a good right hand later in the round. But still, Kentikian
won the round because she was way more effective with her punches. Kentikian
showed good ring generalship, very good reflexes and great stamina. Alvarez made
it a difficult fight because of her wild style and her warrior mentality but was
no match for Kentikian. Alvarez tried to turn the page in the eighth but
Kentikian landed more clean punches. In the ninth, finally, the referee stopped
the bout as Alvarez was once again taking everything thrown by Kentikian."
Several commentators were puzzled by the reason for the stoppage, however, as
Alvarez did not seem to be in any greater difficulty in the ninth than in
earlier rounds. Alvarez fell to 8-1-1
(4 KO's).
On March 30, 2007 at
Kölner Arena, Köln, Germany, a crowd of 19,500 saw
Susianna (112 lbs) TKO Marie Jose Nunez Anchorena of Asunción, Paraguay
at 0:50 in the third round defending her WBA Flyweight belt. According to WBAN
correspondent Torben L., "Anchorena turned out to be far too open for a class
act like Kentikian. The Armenian born Kentikian was in control right from the
start of the first round, although she began it at slower pace than usual.
Anchorena paid for her sloppy defence 40 seconds into the second round, when she
was sent to the floor by a hard right hand from Kentikian. She survived the
round, but the writing was on the wall. The punishment continued in the 3rd
round, and the referee called a halt to the fight 50 seconds into the round,
when Kentikian had Anchorena against the ropes and peppered her with a
combination of 4 to 5 hard blows, without anything coming back. So it turned out
to be an easy day at the office for the WBA champion; probably too easy for a
world championship fight." Anchorena fell to 5-2-0 (3 KOs).
On May 25, 2007 at the Fight Night Arena in
Köln, Germany, Susianna (112 lbs) won a
controversial ten-round split (97-93,98-92,93-97) decision over
Nadia Hockmi (111 lbs) of Strasbourg, France
for the WBA Flyweight title. Kentikian started better
appeared to go into a lull in the middle of the fight, before raising her game
again in the final rounds. Unlike earlier opponents Hockmi did not let Kentikian
settle down and wasn't intimidated by her always-aggressive style. Kentikian improved to 17-0 with this win.
Susi Kentikian stopped Shanee Martin in September 2007
On September 7, 2007 in Düsseldorf, Germany,
Susianna Kentikian successfully defended her WBA Flyweight title when she TKO'd
Shanee Martin of Colchester, England in the third round. Susianna dominated the fight
and totally negated Martin's height and reach advantages with her
crisp punching and aggressiveness. Martin was bleeding from her nose after the
second round and again when the bout was stopped in the third.
According to WBAN reporter Torben L.,
"Martin was unable to capitalise on her
reach advantage. Throughout the first round Kentikian stood her ground, when
Martin came forward. She was able to dodge most of the Englishwoman's jabs and
countered with her fast combinations, both high and low. Kentikian sustained a
cut over her left eye late in the round, presumably caused by a clash of heads.
Round 2 followed the same
pattern. Martin tried to keep Kentikian at bay with her jabs, but was
unable to deter her smaller opponent, who found and punished the slightest
openings in Martin's defence. Kentikian frustrated Martin with double jabs,
hooks and uppercuts coming from all angles, and as the round progressed it
became abundantly clear that Martin was out of her depth. Kentikian
continued the chase in round 3 and caught Martin with some powerful
punches during the first part of the round. The end for the brave English
girl came 1 minute into the round when Kentikian caught her with a vicious
right to the chin, that sent her to the canvas. Martin got up on the count
of four; she raised her gloves indicating, that she was ready to continue,
but the Italian referee decided that he had seen enough and stopped the
fight." Martin fell to 8-4-0 (4 KOs).
On December 7, 2007 at Alsterdorfer Sporthalle in
Hamburg, Germany, Susi retained her WBA Flyweight Title and gained the WIBF
Flyweight Belt recently vacated by Regina Halmich, with a 10-round unanimous
decision over Nadia Hockmi of France. The judges scored the bout 97-94, 96-94
and 97-95 for Kentikian. WBAN correspondent Torben L.
reported
that "Particularly in the first rounds, the home town girl succeeded with
combinations to the body of the taller Frenchwoman, often ending with one or two
blows to the head once the guards came down. Hockmi scored most with her left
jab, and looked best when she was able to keep the aggressive Kentikian at
length. The good skills of Hockmi became evident when she was under pressure on
the ropes. Susi Kentikian has stopped many of her former opponents, when she
managed to catch them on the ropes and peppering them with punches from all
angles. But Hockmi's good defensive skills enabled her to weather the storm and
only let fairly few punches slip through her guard, when Kentikian had her
backed up against the ropes. Kentikian's quick reflexes made her (a) difficult
target for Hockmi, while her fast hands found their target frequently and adding
up on the scorecards. But it was far from one-way traffic. Hockmi got through
with some telling right hands as well as her left jab, and looked especially
strong in the 5th and 8th round. Kentikian suffered a small cut over her left
eye in the ninth round, while Hockmi was bleeding from the nose throughout most
of the fight." Hockmi fell to 8-6-1 (5 KOs).
On February 29, 2008 at the
Sporthalle in Hamburg, Germany
Susi (112 lbs) TKO’d Sarah Goodson (110 lbs) of
Arkansas, USA at 0:57 in the third round of a scheduled 10-rounder for the WBA
and WIBF Flyweight belts. According to WBAN
correspondent Torben L., "Round one started fairly slow for Kentikian's standards.
The Hamburg girl did give some examples of her skill with beautiful
combinations, but she seemed to hold back. Goodson had little luck with her
attempts to connect, and usually was punished for leaving herself too open, when
she did try. Kentikian stayed in control in round two, which also began
relatively slow. The pressure was increased in the middle of the round, and
Goodson took a series of punches both high and low, from the world champion.
Again Kentikian took her foot off the speeder, and the round ended relatively
quiet.At the end of round three, Goodson was caught by a perfectly delivered
right uppercut from Kentikian, and this time she continued the pressure. Backed
up against the ropes, Goodson's only answer was covering up her face, which gave
Kentikian the opportunity to work the body of her completely over challenged
opponent. The referee stopped the fight." Kentikian improved to 20-0-0 (15 KOs)
with the win while Goodson fell to 26-16-1 (9 KOs).
Other Susianna Kentikian links
To check out fight reports, complete up-to-date boxing records, with huge digital photos you can go to
the WBAN Records Member Site
Page last updated:
Sunday, 02 March 2008 |
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