Even though both fighters were coming off of long layoffs, Pauldo looked razor-sharp while Rakhimov looked like he was wading through cement. Pauldo bested Rakhimov in every category tracked by CompuBox, most notably, power punches, where he connected at a 52 per cent rate, landing 192 to Rakhimov’s 60. After beating Rakhimov from pillar to post for seven rounds, Pauldo found the knockout combination at 1:53 of the eighth round.