2016 Rio Olympics gold medalist Fazliddin Gaibnazarov (11-1, 6 KOs) continued his career renewal with an important points victory over fellow compatriot Jamshid Karimov in an all-Uzbeki light middleweight showdown.
The fight crowned a nice-packed event that took place on Friday night at the Humo Arena in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, under Akromhoja Shadihojaev.
Karimov offered solid resistance to Gaibnazarov, but the latter’s overall technical prowess and finesse earned him a unanimous decision over ten rounds.
Gaibnazarov, 31, started his pro career in the United States and initially signed on with Top Rank – but he never really got his career off the ground. When he stepped up against Mykal Fox in 2019, he lost.
Fazliddin fought sporadically after that but came back to the ring in August 2022 after almost two years off with the first-round blowout of 34-3-1 veteran Jaider Parra. Karimov drops down to an almost identical 11-1, with 8 KOs.
In the co-feature, 2016 and 2020 Armenian Olympian Hovhannes Bachkov (4-0, 3 KOs) celebrated his 30th birthday with a quick blowout of Mexican lightweight fighter Marcos Gonzalez Barraza (22-3, 11 KOs) in two rounds.
Bachkov, who is being fast-tracked by Probellum, is a three-time world (2017, 2019, 2021) amateur champion and a one-time Olympic (2020) bronze medalist.