By Thomas Fraisse
Published on 03/07/2024 at 7:18 p.m., Updated on 03/07/2024 at 7:20 p.m.
Patrick Habirora.
PFL
The 2023 amateur world champion wins his second professional success against the Italian Claudio Pacella by unanimous decision.
At the Accor Arena in Bercy
The Belgian nugget continues to blossom. Patrick Habirora signs a second consecutive victory, in as many professional fights. The Namurois won in the lightweight category (-70kg) against the Italian Claudio Pacella, a fighter affiliated with the Irish SBG gym of a certain Conor McGregor.
If Patrick Habirora was the most aggressive from the start of the fight, damaging his opponent from the first seconds, Claudio Pacella set a trap for the Belgian by managing the hand-to-hand phases and counting points with the volume of the blows rather than power. Faced with this strategy, Patrick Habirora innovated by bringing his opponent to the ground twice. And finally, the judges prioritized the Belgian’s aggressiveness rather than the Italian’s tactics.
After the amateur titles of 2022 European vice-champion and 2023 world champion, the fighter from Team Sendo (Brussels) nicknamed “the KO team”, is full of confidence. With a record of 3 victories for 0 defeats, the Namurois is on a series of 10 consecutive victories.
Dubbed by sports legend Georges Saint-Pierre, darling of social networks, nothing seems to be able to stop the Habirora rocket, which takes off this evening on the international scene at only 22 years old.
Half empty since the start of the event, Bercy woke up to the announcement of the arrival of the darling of social networks. The French gave the Belgian a magnificent welcome.