By Alexey Sukachev
There were questions regarding a real level and true potential of undefeated but unrated 30-year old Swiss heavyweight prospect Arnold Gjergjaj (27-0, 20 KOs) before his latest fight). After twelve rounds of fighting against rugged but aged and fading Russian veteran Denis Bakhtov, 35, those questions remain valid even after a close win by the hulking prospect of Albanian heritage.
It’s to be understood that Gjergjaj had all but one of his fights taking place in Switzerland (with a single voyage to Hungary), and never faced such an experienced and rough fighter as the Russian upset artist. As a result, Gjergjaj walked on the brink of his own crushing loss. Bakhtov reportedly dominated the early rounds, then in the fifth he caught Gjergjaj near the ropes and put him down hard with a left-right combo.
It wasn’t enough. The Swiss fighter got up and was able to slightly outbox the Russian plodder in the later rounds and even floored him with a rabbit punch in round nine (which wasn’t ruled a knockdown).
All three judges had it unanimously for Gjergjaj: 115-112, 116-111 and 117-111. Bakhtov drops down to 39-11, 26 KOs, while Gjergjaj retained his EBU-EE heavyweight title, but also has plenty of work to do if he wants to become a fighter to look after even on the continental scale.
The bout took place this past Saturday, June 6, in Basel, Switzerland under a Angelo Gallina promotion.