Ivan Redkach Outpoints Gulyakevich In Frustrating Affair

By Jake Donovan 

Ivan Redkach picked up his second consecuitve televised win, but failed to impress in outpointing Belarus' Sergey Gulyakevich over ten rounds Friday evening at Ameristar Casino in St. Charles, Missouri. 

Scores were 100-90, 99-91 and 98-92 in favor of Redkach. 

The sales pitch for the unbeaten lightweight was his rumored all-action style and penchant for wanting to knock out all of his opponents. Perhaps that version exists, but it hasn't yet surfaced in consecutive televised appearances. Redkach physically looks the part, a lean yet ripped build and a look on his face that says he's always ready to war. 

In Gulyakevich there existed the opportunity to break down a tall, skinny kid fighting in the United States for the first time in his career. The Belarusian took the fight on short notice, and seemed out of sorts all night. Constant movement and hand movement without doing much at all made the veteran look like a fighter without a plan.

Redkach had the opportunity to cut off the ring, dig in and make his opponent pay for showing up ill-prepared. Instead, he seemed content with settling for the guided tour, throwing punches when he felt like it, occasionally going for the knockout but otherwise cruising along in a bout that never shifted gears. 

Somehow, two judges found one or more rounds to score for Gulyakevich. The lone memorable moment of his evening was for all of the wrong reasons when he swung and missed Redkach with an uppercut, only to clip himself on the forehead. 

Regardless, it goes in the books as another win for Redkach, who advances to 17-0 (13KOs). The virtual shutout comes five months after his Showtime-televised points win over Tony Luis, another fight where a lot more was expected than what actually took place. 

Gulyakevich falls to 41-3 (17KOs). The loss snaps a 15-fight win streak dating back to 2009. 

UNDERCARD

Ryan Kielczweski remained unbeaten with an eight-round decision win over a determined Ramsey Luna in their televised co-feature. 

Scores were 78-74 (twice) and 79-73 in a laboring affair that saw grueling action at close quarters for much of the contest. Kielczweski picks up his second win of 2014 as he advances to 20-0 (4KO). Luna dips to 12-2 (5KO), but made his unbeaten opponent work every second of every round. 

St. Louis-bred bantamweight Stephon Young has only fought one opponent with a winning record prior to his ESPN2-televised appearance Friday evening. The lack of experience showed as he struggled in a six-round win over Minnesota's Vicente Alfaro. 

Scores were 60-54, 59-55 and 58-56 in favor of Young, whose record is now 10-0-1 (4KO). Alfaro drops to 6-4 (1KO), with all four losses coming in his past six bouts. 

Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of Boxingscene.com, as well as a member of Transnational Boxing Ratings Board and the Boxing Writers Association of America. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox