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Chessboxing London October 2009

In October the GBCBO again organised a great fight night featuring Andy "The Rock" Costello and Gianluca "Il Dottore" Sirci competing in the first European heavyweight championship final.

The clash of the old heavy weight rivals had been awaited eagerly as Costello had lost against Sirci in Berlin 2008 due to a controversial disqualification. So Costello had a bone to pick with Sirci and it seemed promising for Costello with a home field advantage.

During the boxing rounds The Rock could throw more punches.

But Il Dottore's chess game was the difference between the two. He had been training hard to improve his chess skills what paid off in the nineth round. Gianluca Sirci is the first European heavy weight Champion.

The Undercard fight was fought by Dutch Hubert van Melick against Hector Gomez. It was a thrilling fight, where both chessboxers fought as true lions. Van Melick eventually won in the ninth round while Gomez exceeded the chess time limit.
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