In a shocker, Maxim Vlasov, a two-time world title challenger, who had never ever been stopped before, was both stopped and announced his very unexpected retirement after the shocking upset loss to quite unheralded compatriot Dilmurod Satybaldiev on May 27 in Omsk.
The fight crowned a tiny but very well-packed event, staged by well-known Russian boxing impresario Vladimir Hryunov. The card also featured cruiserweight contender Alexey Papin and two-time Olympic gold medalist Alexey Tischenko.
Vlasov (46-5, 26 KOs), 35, had been just one fight removed from a very close (some say controversial) loss to Joe Smith Jr. in a challenge for a vacant WBO light heavyweight title, the fight he had lost via a majority decision on his opponent’s home turf. In his most recent fight Vlasov shut out former WBA interim titleholder Felix Valera and looked brilliant and ready for yet another title opportunity.
Meanwhile, Satybaldiev, 28, originally from the Crimea, came back to the ring in November 2021 after four and a half years of retirement and ballooned up to 211 lbs in his first-round stoppage of 3-3 Kazim Umudov.
Vlasov started confidently to sweep the first three rounds, outboxing and outsmarting Satybaldiev. It has all changed in the fourth, when Satybaldiev put Vlasov down with a liver shot. The fight turned around drastically after that, as the underdog started to press action and hit Vlasov at will. Maxim had already been losing, when he was badly cut over the forehead in what seemed to be an accidental headbutt.
The fighter, who had previously gone distance with Krzysztof Glowacki, Gilberto Ramirez and Isaac Chilemba in competitive defeats, was unable to go out for the seventh round. Vlasov announced his retirement immediately after the end of the fight.
“If you haven’t watched this fight, don’t watch it”, wrote Vlasov in one of his social network accounts afterwards. “It was a horrible performance, but it is more than that. It has been my ultimate fight. Despite never winning a world title, I consider my career to be very exciting. There were several thrillers, which I have produced, that gave me so much pleasure. Unfortunately, an inner fire that drove me has gone out. I don’t want to perform like that [in the Satybaldiev fight]. Boxing should bring joy for both a boxer and his fans. One mustn’t forget about health as well. And I also want to thank everyone for its continuous support”.
Satybaldiev is now 13-2, 4 KOs, raising his stock momentarily.
In a co-main event, it took WBC #1 and IBF #13 cruiserweight Alexey Papin (14-1, 13 KOs) just four and a half minutes to drop former WBO world title challenger Dilan Prasovic (15-3, 12 KOs) five times – mostly with big body shots – and to stop him at 1:30. Prasovic had lost his last three – all within three rounds.
Also in an exhibition, 2004 Athens featherweight and 2008 Beijing lightweight Olympic gold medalist Alexey Tischenko collided with ex-WBA bantamweight and super bantamweight titleholder Nehomar Cermeno (27-8-1, 16 KOs) of Venezuela and outpointed him over four rounds with the identical scores 40-36.
————————————————————————————————————————————
Sergey Strelkov of the Dynamo Boxing Promotions staged a small but exciting four-fight event at the legendary USC Soviet Wings (aka Krilya Sovetov) Arena. The show took place on May 31.
In the main event, rapidly rising light welterweight Khariton Agrba improved his record to 9-0, with 5 KOs, and warmed up for the start of the Intercontinental Cup with a very solid unanimous decision over game and durable but otherwise overmatched Avak Uzlyan (now 5-1-1, 1 KO). The scores were identical: 100-90 – for Agrba, who acquired a vacant Eurasian Boxing Parliament 140lb title in process.
Super featherweight turned lightweight Soslan Baev (7-1, 3 KOs) acquired the same belt, albeit at the 135lb limit, by outpointing Tyva native Nachyn Chambaldoo (6-1-1, 3 KOs) in a close hard-fought affair. Scores were: 98-95, 97-93 and 96-94 – for Baev.
Also, Elena Savelieva (8-1, 5 KOs) dropped her opponent Sofya Abramyan (6-2, 2 KOs) once in the tenth round to punctuate her win via a unanimous decision over ten rounds for a vacant Russian super flyweight title. Scores were: 99-91, 97-93 and 96-93 – all for Savelieva.
———————————————————————————————————————————-
Dmitry Kudryashov, a very hard-hitting but also very fragile slugger, fought as a heavyweight for the second time in his career and stopped aggressive but very limited Vagab Vagabov (3-1, 1 KO) in the very first round. The bout took place at the Irina Viner Gymnastic Centre in Moscow, Russia, on June 11.
Unlike his heavyweight debut – the loss to Evgueny Romanov in what was billed as the WBC Bridgerweight eliminator in May 2021 – this time Kudryashov did look like a heavyweight coming at his heaviest (253 lbs). He also looked bigger than Vagabov.
Kudryashov’s opponent immediately jumped at Dmitry and soon landed a well-placed one-two – his first and only success in a very short fight. Kudryashov (25-5, 24 KOs) landed a sudden left hook, dropping Vagabov down. Vagab got up but was immediately put down for the stoppage with a solid right hand to the ear. Time of stoppage was 0:45 of the first round.
—————————————————————————————————————————–
German Titov of the RCC Boxing Promotions combined his efforts with Vasiliy Vakulenko aka Basta, a locally well-known Russian hip hop artist, to stage an event at the Gazgolder Club in Moscow, Russia, which happened on June 9.
Talented and flamboyant light heavyweight Vasiliy Voytsekhovskiy (9-0, 5 KOs) rose to the occasion and knocked out experienced Gasan Gasanov (18-10-1, 14 KOs) in a thriller, which crowned the event.
Voytsekhovskiy was the first one to test the canvas as a right hand from Gasanov put him down hard midst into the opening stanza. Voytsekhovskiy rose on wobbly legs against the crude puncher but managed to survive under fire.
After the first, Voytsekhovskiy evened the fight, while muscular Gasanov started to lose steam, which wasn’t unexpected. The prospect made a comeback for a payback in the fourth dropping the Russian national ex-champion twice. The end came in the fifth round after yet another knockdown produced by Vasiliy Voytsekhovskiy.
In an elimination fight (sorts of!), Nikita Kuznetsov (now 12-3-2, 6 KOs) put a halt to his sorrow three-fight/three-year losing streak with the convincing stoppage of another degraded boxer in Pavel Malikov. After a couple of feeling-out rounds at the beginning of the clash, both fighters started to engage in more heated exchanges in the third. Kuznetsov was a notch better. As a result, Malikov his left eye badly cut by the fifth. He was allowed to continue but Kuznetsov smelt blood and pressured Malikov to a knockdown.
Malikov declared that he was unable to see with his left eye, so the fight was stopped right away at 2:49 of the fifth. Malikov dropped down to 16-6-1, 5 KOs, losing his fifth in a row.
In a heated light welterweight encounter between two fighters of Armenian origin, Oganes Ustyan remained unbeaten at 9-0, 4 KOs, after a majority decision win over Radik Grigoryan (10-2-1, 3 KOs) in an eight-rounder. Scores were: 78-74 (twice) and 76-76 – for Ustyan.
Heavyweight prospect Arslan Yallyev (13-0, 8 KOs) stopped journeyman Igor Vilchitskiy (5-4, 1 KO) at 1:47 of the second round. Yallyev called out well-known MMA and kickboxing combatant Sergey Kharitonov afterwards for a possible collision in the fall.
Arguably the event’s most thrilling clash saw Igor Adleiba overcoming two knockdowns in rounds two and four to drop journeyman Kantemir Kalazhokov (3-7-1) in the sixth and then to finish him off at 1:52 of the seventh round. Undefeated Adleiba moved to 13-0-2, 5 KOs, but – most of all – he got a sweet revenge against one of two fighters, who were able to get a draw with him.
Other results:
Anis Chilaev (5-0, 2 KOs) UD 8 Shodilbek Sharobiddinov (3-4, 2 KOs) at light welterweight. Scores: 80-72, 77-74, 77-74.
Maxim Smirnov (9-14-3, 4 KOs) UD 8 Makhmadradzhab Sharipov (3-2, 2 KOs) at super middleweight. Scores: 78-74, 78-74 and 77-75.
Batal Chezhia (11-3-2, 4 KOs) TKO 4 Artem Ivanov (3-3-1, 1 KO) at super middleweight. Time: 2:26.
Petr Vasiliev (4-0, 2 KOs) UD 6 Vyacheslav Letovaltsev (5-2, 1 KO) at lightweight. Scores: 60-54, 59-55 and 59-55.
——————————————————————————————————————————
Young welterweight gun Vitaliy Petryakov starred at the event, promoted on June 15 by Shamir Petrosyan at the legendary Krilya Sovetov Sports Arena in Moscow, Russia.
Petryakov (13-0, 10 KOs) got his hands full with durable and masterful Brendon Denes (9-2, 6 KOs) of Zimbabwe, who had been boxing well for the first six rounds. Then Petryakov surged and dropped Denes twice in the eighth – this time for the count. The end came at 1:12 of the round.
In a co-feature, Artur Osipov (18-5-2, 12 KOs) dropped willing and ready Ravshan Ergashev (6-6-1, 2 KOs) twice in the seventh for a stoppage win at 1:27. Ergashev lost for the sixth consecutive time.
Very hard-hitting but also very raw WBO Oriental super middleweight titlist Artysh Lopsan (8-1-1, 5 KOs) lost the first half of his fight versus always dangerous and upset-minded Vasiliy Shtyk (5-4, 4 KOs) but then rallied during the second half, putting Shtyk down in the fifth and then in the ninth round for a stoppage at 1:02. WBO #11 Lopsan is best known for his road upset of previously undefeated three-time Olympian Vijender Singh of India.
Also, super featherweight David Agadzhanyan moved up to 17-0, 9 KOs, with a unanimous decision over veteran journeyman Anton Bekish (5-22-1, 4 KOs). Scores were: 59-54, 58-55 and 58-55 – for the Armenian boxer, who dropped Bekish once.
———————————————————————————————————————-
Former world-rated heavyweight Sergey Kuzmin (17-2, 13 KOs), a long-time friend and a teammate of light heavyweight star Dmitry Bivol and trained by the same coach Gennady Mashyanov, continued his recent comeback with the first-round knockout of Ghanaian import Richard Lartey (14-6, 11 KOs). A counter right hand dropped the African boxer down for the count. Time of stoppage was 2:12.
Also, welterweight Vadim Lubsanov (4-0, 1 KO) knocked down previously undefeated Dmitry Kulakov (7-1-1, 1 KO) twice in the second round for a solid stoppage win, and 43-year-old cruiserweight Artur Ter Israelyan (3-0, 3 KOs) continued his curious kayo series with the second-round stoppage of 44-year-old Said Mbwela (47-33-5, 31 KOs).
Zyaki Yunisov and Alexander Zolkin co-promoted the event, which took place on May 27 in Moscow.
——————————————————————————————————————————–
Former WBA/IBF unified cruiserweight champion Murat Gassiev (28-1, 21 KOs), who now fights as a heavyweight, is hinted to make a comeback to the ring in July 2022.
“Murat is in an active phase of his training camp. His next fight can take place in July”, said an anonymous source to TASS media agency.
Gassiev, still 28, has fought just twice since his loss to Olexander Usyk in the WBSS Season 1 (cruiserweight) Finale in Moscow, Russia, which occurred four years ago. The Russian banger stopped Nuri Seferi in October 2020 and followed it up with another stoppage of Michael Wallisch of Germany the last July.
—————————————————————————————————————
On May 21st, German Titov, a long-time stalwart of pugilism in the Ural Mountains, staged another regional show under the RCC Boxing Promotions banner at the RCC Boxing Academy in Ekaterinburg, Russia.
In the main event, rising middleweight prospect Vadim Tukov (7-0, 2 KOs) dealt Belarussian import Nikolay Veselov (12-1-2, 5 KOs) his first professional loss, outpointing Veselov unanimously over ten methodical rounds. Tukov got especially effective during the second half of the fight beating Veselov to the punch. Scores were: 100-90, 98-92 and 98-92 – all for Tukov, 28, who had defeated former world title challenger Joel Julio in his penultimate fight.
Dangerous Russia-based Azerbaijani lightweight Elnur Samedov (13-1, 4 KOs) moved down in weight and coupled his remarkable finesse with a more imposing physical stature to defeat Kazakhstan-born Russia-bred local fighter Stanislav Kalitskiy (11-4, 4 KOs) at the 130lb limit. Samedov had been dominating the fight prior to the fifth-round stoppage due to injury of Kalitskiy (he damaged his hand while throwing a punch at Samedov), who had now lost four of his last five. Samedov, 28, on the other hand, has a very solid record with previous wins over Dmitry Khasiev, Zoravor Petrosian (both undefeated at that time) and Aik Shakhnazaryan.
Armenian Zhora Hamazaryan (12-3-2, 9 KOs) continued his recent winning performances with the first-round stoppage of the Uzbek import Shodilbek Sharobiddinov (3-4, 2 KOs), who tore his biceps and couldn’t continue. Hamazaryan is best known for close losses to Thomas Mattice and Zaur Abdullaev.
WBO #12 super bantamweight Mukhammad Shekhov (11-0-1, 3 KOs) remained busy with a one-sided unanimous decision over Davit Hovhannisyan (5-11, 1 KO). Scores were: 80-72 and 79-73 (twice) over the eight rounds.
Other results:
Georgiy Yunovidov (5-0, 3 KOs) UD 8 Yuri Bykhovtsev (10-25-3, 5 KOs) at heavyweight. Scores: 80-72, 80-72 and 79-73.
Nikita Zon (4-0, 3 KOs) UD 8 Ravshan Ergashev (6-5-1, 2 KOs) at super middleweight. Scores: 80-72, 79-73 and 79-73.
Maxim Cherniciuc (3-0, 1 KO) TKO 5 Arstan Umbitkulov (6-3, 2 KOs) at welterweight. Time: 1:56.
Sergey Murashev (1-0) UD 6 Vadim Sitner (2-3, 2 KOs) at light heavyweight. Scores: 60-54, 58-56 and 58-56.