Shemsi Beqiri Wins 4-Man Tournament in Switzerland

Sunday, 11 September 2011 14:38

Written by Rian Scalia

Yesterday in Basel, Switzerland, Super Pro held a night of fights that featured a 4-man tournament. Among the participants were Rachid Belaini, Miodrag Olar, Philippe Salmon and Shemsi Beqiri. French fighter Farid Villaume was originally scheduled to face Shemsi Beqiri in the semi-finals but Salmon took his place.

Rachid Belaini and Miodrag Olar met in the semi-finals, with Belaini advancing. Shemsi Beqiri and Philippe Salmon faced off on the other side of the bracket, with Beqiri advancing to the final with a decision. Beqiri took a decision over Belaini in the final to win the tournament and a prize of 20 000 Euros. That's quite a big purse for kickboxing, equivalent to $27 341 in American dollars.

The tournament was Beqiri's first time fighting since January, where he lost a somewhat controversial decision to Yoshihiro Sato in Japan. I myself thought that it should've gone to an extra round. It's unusual for Beqiri to fight this little, as last year he fought twelve times. Beqiri is a solid fighter, and at only 25 years of age still has a lot ahead of him for his kickboxing career.

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