Souleymane Cissokho retains WBC Silver crown and wins eliminatory

At the Sipopo Conference Centre in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, a great card hosted by Jérôme Abiteboul and Hassan Obiang, in which WBC Silver welterweight champion Souleymane Cissokho defeated Egidijus Kavaliauskas by unanimous decision in a dramatic bout.

Souleymane had to fight hard against the tide in this bout, which was also an eliminator, defeating a tough opponent in Kavaliauskas.

The first round was typically cautious on the part of both fighters, but the action came alive in the second when Lithuanian Kavaliauskas (24-3-1, 19 KOs) landed a left hook that sent his opponent to the canvass.

The Frenchman had already felt Kavaliauskas’s power, and it was time to change his strategy and box with more movement.

Rounds 3 and 4 were more successful for Cissokho, who managed to counter his opponent’s attacks with precise jabs.

However, once again, Cissokho found himself in a difficult situation in the fifth round, having been knocked down again.

With Kavaliauskas pressing, knowing he was destabilizing Cissokho, he looked to finish the fight

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Cissokho wouldn’t be defeated. He returned to the fight to survive the remainder of the round before regrouping for the second half of the fight.

The seventh and eighth rounds were difficult and tense for Cissokho, but he emerged unscathed. The ninth round was more beneficial for the Frenchman, as he punished his opponent, who seemed to have expended a lot of energy.

Kavaliauskas, visibly fatigued and his pressure had decreased considerably, had to deal more with Cissokho’s movement and jabs in the tenth and eleventh rounds.

In the final round, Kavaliauskas made a final push to trouble his opponent for the third time, but Cissokho held on to claim the most important victory of his career thus far.

With this victory, Cissokho (18-0, 9 KOs) successfully defended his WBC Silver welterweight crown and won a division elimination bout.

The scores were 114-112, 115-111, and 116-110 in favor of the French fighter.

2025 is the Year of Africa for the WBC. A year in which the achievements, history, and champions of this mighty continent will be celebrated. It’s already featured several important events, this being the most recent.