New UBO Champions: Rudan Upsets Cristofori, Amore Beats Cravagno

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MARCH 23, 2025 / BY BY UBO PRESS OFFICER

In the main event, local hero Nicola Cristofori was supposed to face fellow Italian Giustu Durante, but instead took on undefeated late substitute Mate Rudan from Croatia in what turned out to be an excellent fight for the vacant UBO Continental (Europe) Middleweight title.

Rudan, coming off a stellar victory in Canada almost a year ago when he stopped John Michael Bianco, had come to score another upset and was aggressive from the start.

The visitor was dangerous and determined, always pressing the action, while Cristofori was forced to be focused and sharp, moving well as he tried to avoid the hard shots of his opponent.

Cristofori had success with his straight left, and it was with that shot he appeared to be taking control in round four when he landed cleanly, flooring Rudan heavily.

Rudan gamely made it to his feet, but was clearly very hurt and had to gather all his strength to push through the onslaught that followed.

But already in round five Rudan came back strong, and finished the fight very well, arguably sweeping the last three stanzas.

After eight fascinating and very entertaining rounds, two judges scored it 78-74 for Rudan, while the third had it 76-75 for Cristofori, making the visitor new UBO champion by split decision.

Scoring the biggest victory of his professional career, Rudan improved his record to 8-0 (7). Cristofori, a former Italian and IBF regional titlist, drops to 16-4-2 (1).

In the co-featured bout of the show, promoted by L´Accademia SSD and Duran Boxing, Nicolo Amore won the vacant UBO International Super Lightweight title with a disciplined and convincing performance against Diego Cravagno.

The two unbeaten compatriots both started the fight with confidence, but from the third round it was more and more on Amore´s terms.

Amore threw more punches and was effective with combinations, and especially had a strong sixth round. Cravagno fought back in spurts though, and never stopped trying.

Two Judges saw Amore as the winner by 80-72 scores, with the third judge scoring it slightly closer at 80-73.

The new UBO International Super Lightweight champion took his record to 9-0 (0). Cravagno falls to 4-1 (0), but showed grit and skills, and will have learned a lot from the experience.