After battling Giovanni De Carolis to a majority draw when they first met up last July, Zeuge (19-0-1, 11 KOs) scored a dramatic 12th-round knockout in their rematch four months later to capture the 168-pound title. The Berlin native had been feasting on regional opposition up to that point and now his first world title defense will come against arguably his toughest foe to date.
Ekpo (31-2, 24 KOs) challenged Robert Stieglitz for the WBO super middleweight crown back in October 2013, but the Nigerian came up short via unanimous decision. He has since won nine in a row, eight by knockout, though his adversaries were of the run-of-the-mill type in either Ghana or Nigeria. Zeuge will easily be the best opponent he’ll have faced since Stieglitz.
The rest of the card will see Deniz Ilbay take on Angelo Frank at welterweight; Artur Mann against Taras Oleksiyenko in a cruiserweight battle; Leon Bunn against Viktor Kessler at light heavyweight; Denis Radovan taking on Atin Karabet in super middleweight action; and Patrick Wojcicki versus Nikoloz Gvajava as middleweights. A special WKU heavyweight championship kickboxing match between Michael Smolik and David Trallero is also on tap.
The action will go live from MSB Arena in Potsdam, Germany, at 2 p.m. ET/11 a.m. PT for a reasonable price of $19.99. Fight fans can watch the seven-bout card at this link: https://www.fite.tv/watch/tyron-zeuge-vs-issac-ekpo/2jjrl/