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Arias to face Nielsen on April 15!
By José Elias Flores Jr.
Former world cruiserweight title challenger and current Brazilian heavyweight champion George Arias (33-7, 21 KOs) has agreed to fight Danish heavyweight Steffen Nielsen (24-1, 13 KOs) next friday (April 15), in Copenhagen, Denmark. Arias steps in for Norwegian Thomas Hansvoll (25-3-1, 8 KOs) who reportedly suffered an injury and is not fit to fight. Arias, who last fought in December 2004, knocking out fellow countryman Daniel Frank in round 3, will probably be Nielsen's toughest test to date. Nielsen's only loss came by KO against Englishman Julius Francis, back in September 2002.


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Saturday, in Taboão da Serra, São Paulo, Brazil, some local fighters got to work. In the main event, middleweight Carlos "Butcher" Nascimento (9-0, 8 KOs) knocked out Colombia's Cesar Piedrahita in round 4. Piedrahita was down four times during the bout. In the undercard, former Acelino Freitas' opponent Gutemberg Ferreira (9-4, 6 KOs) won an unanimous decision against Joel da Silva in the lightweight division. All three scores read 60-53. Also on the card, former WBO Latino light middleweight and middleweight champion Rogério Cacciatore (30-9, 21 KOs) had a tougher than expected date against unknown Rony da Glória. Cacciatore was dropped in round 2 and was trailing on points until breaking da Glória's nose with a tremendous punch and forcing a stoppage in the fifth. Strong middleweight Marcelo de Jesus made his pro debut knocking out Elias Machado (0-6) with a left hook in the first round and 147 pounder Jeferson de Souza also debuted, stopping Esmeraldo José da Silva (3-1, 2 KOs) in the second. Da Silva was down three times.
:D