Giorgio "Dracula" Isaila sinks his teeth into Josue Bendana to secure another KO

Giorgio "Dracula" Isaila stopped Josue Bendana to move up to 9-0

Romanian-born Londoner Giorgio "Dracula" Isaila (9-0, 6 KOs) secured a fourth-round stoppage victory over Nicaraguan featherweight champion Josue Bendana (10-34-4, 6 KOs) at the York Hall on March 7.

The 30-year-old Bendana hadn't been stopped since 2019. Isaila became the first from 20 prior opponents to finish the tough South American inside the distance.

The last person to stop Bendana was Martin J Ward in August 2019, who went on to win British, Commonwealth and European titles.

Isaila stopped Bendana in round four of a scheduled six, which was one round quicker than Miguel Berchelt managed in 2015. Berchelt stopped Bendana in the fifth round of 10, then went on to become a WBC super-featherweight world champion.

It's Isaila's second consecutive stoppage, and sixth KO in his last seven contests after kicking off his pro career in 2023 with two shutout points wins.

Trained by former British champion, Matt Marsh, welterweight prospect Isaila reviewed his latest win exclusively to BBN, "Yes, the fight went good, I weighed in at 144lbs, I felt strong and that was the lowest weight I have been so far. I felt great, strong and fast.

"I started slow and patient, with a lot of feints and jabs, trying to scan him and expose all his habits and how he reacts to my movements. Then, second round, I started picking the pace up a bit.

"In the third, I felt that I had just warmed up, so I went bit more higher with the work rate, hurt him, I think his right eye was swollen and cut as the referee stopped for a doctor examination, then allowed to continue.

"In the fourth, he wouldn’t move or use his right hand, as it was close to his eye all the time, protecting himself, so I went punching more on that side until I caught him with the perfect left uppercut to the chin to make him him wobble, and that’s when I went harder on him to get the TKO."

The Goodwin Boxing event only ended up with three contests on the card after lots of last-minute cancellations. However, the show must go on, as they say, and Isaila ended up being the main event after bringing over 150 raucous fans to the 'Home of Boxing' in Bethnal Green.

"The York Hall was full despite the big amount of pull-outs; the show ended up having only three bouts, I was the last one on. The venue was full, lots of Romanians supporting me, very good energy."

The unbeaten prospect is targeting a Southern Area title shot next, at either super-lightweight or welterweight. Trained by Tunde Ajayi, Joel Kodua (11-0, 3 KOs) currently holds the 147lbs title; while Surrey's Aaron Prospere (14-2, 4 KOs) has the 140lbs belt.

Isaila is aiming to get back in the gym this week to start preparations for his next fight, only enjoying a few of days of rest.

Giorgio Isaila only stepped into a boxing gym for the first time five years ago, in January 2021, then he raced to 17 wins from 20 amateur bouts, winning a Senior ABA Championships.