Hurricane: Sylvester storms to victory over Lyell Pic: ©Photo Wende / Winfried Mausolf
Sebastian Sylvester stopped American challenger Billy Lyell in the tenth round to retain his IBF middleweight title in Neubrandenburg, Germany on Saturday.
Sylvester, 33-3 (16 KOs) successfully defended the title for the first time when Lyell’s coach Jack Loew threw in the towel after his charge was on the receiving end of a series of powerful punches.
Sylvester was pleased with the victory, but felt he could have done better.
“It was great to defend my title in front of my fantastic fans,” Sylvester said.
“I am not 100 percent pleased with my performance, I think I can do better, but I have retained my title and that is all that matters. Lyell was very active and hard to hit but I am glad I wore him down.”
Sylvester dominated the fight in front of a sell-out crowd of 4,500 fans. His attack was continuous while his strong defence afforded minimal opportunity or the challenger to connect.
Sylvester doubled up on combinations and his evident strength rocked Lyell, 21-8 (4 KOs), who was impressed by the champions power.
“I fought my heart out but I take my hat off to Sylvester,” Lyell said.
“He is very strong. I tried to slow him down but I could not do it. His power made the difference tonight. His right kept hitting me on the same spot all the time. He deserved to win.”
Sylvester took his foot off the gas in the middle rounds, changing tactics to counter punching, before stepping up the pressure again in the later rounds.
“I tried to put on a good performance for them. All my colleagues had won by KO so I wanted to do the same. I should have boxed a little more and not tried to force it,” he stated.
Coach Karsten Rower added: “I am pleased with Sebastian´s performance. He had only very little time to prepare for Lyell and he did well to defend his title.”
Lyell was a late replacement for Spaniard Pablo Navascues, who tested positive for a banned substance during a random test, and the American’s coach Jack Loew, who also trains Kelly Pavlik, praised Sylvester for a strong performance.
“Billy gave his best, but Sylvester simply was too strong. He had too much power, so congratulations to him.”
Asked about a fight between WBA Middleweight Champion Felix Sturm and Sylvester, Loew said: “That would be a good fight and I think Sylvester would beat Sturm.”
