By Alexey Sukachev

After a lengthy summer layoff, the Eastern Europe fight scene is finally returned to an active mode in September. A good number of various events took place in the first month of the fall, although the vast majority of them were tiny club shows. Here are the most interesting results, news and updates from around the area.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Three notable Belgium-based fighters were seen in action on Friday, Sept. 30, in Gent.

All three were victorious, getting fairly one-sided wins over their opponents.

Lightweight Jean-Pierre Bauwens improved to 21-0-1, with 13 KOs, after a unanimous decision over Ukrainian veteran Andrey Kudriavtsev (37-9, 16 KOs) over ten rounds. Scores were 98-92, 99-92 and 98-93 – for Bauwens.

Local Armenian welterweight Sasha Yengoyan (16-0-1, 9 KOs) destroyed Danish veteran Christian Bladt (38-12-2, 11 KOs) at 0:23 of the third round.

Another Belgian import and former European champion Jackson Osei Bonsu (36-5, 25 KOs) grabbed a win with a unanimous decision over Georgian George Ungiadze (17-10, 7 KOs). The contest was made at light middleweight limit. Scores were: 59-54 (twice) and 59-55.

Other results:

Ismail Abdoul (41-22-2, 16 KOs) UD 6 Paata Berikashvili (11-11-1, 5 KOs)
Delfine Persoon (15-1, 5 KOs) UD 6 Angel McKenzie (4-25)
Luis Portuondo (4-1) MD 6 Joechen Waegemaens (1-2, 1 KO)

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Islam Sakiri brought prizefighing to Gostivar, Macedonia on Sep. 24 to introduce two fighting Albanian brothers to the local heavily pro-Albanian crowd.

In the main event, WBO #5 cruiserweight Nuri Seferi (31-6, 19 KOs) retained his WBO European title with the third-round stoppage of Belgian Tony Ingelrest (10-1, 3 KOs). His hard-punching brother Sefer Seferi (13-0, 12 KOs) was also successful, taking out Hungarian Gabor Zsalek (9-15-1, 6 KOs) at 1:20 of the second round.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Baltic Boxing Union, also known as the BBU, which is a tiny sanctioning body in the Baltic Region, is fairly active in the second half of this year. After two title fights in July, the Finland-based organization continued its activities in September.

In one of the biggest (both literally and figuratively) Finnish domestic fights in recent memory, local Butterbean impersonator Janne Katajisto (9-0-1, 4 KOs) collided with former Finnish cruiserweight titlist Petter Antmann (8-2-1, 1 KO), put him down twice during the contest and impressively took him out in seven exciting rounds on Sep. 24 in Vaasa. Katajisto, who enjoyed almost a 65-pound weight advantage over Antmann, is now BBU and Finnish heavyweight champion. The show was staged by Caramelito Promotions. Also victorious were welterweight Jarkko Jussila (4-0, 2 KOs) and cruiserweight Janne Forsman (3-0, 1 KO).

On October 15, Baltic Boxing Union will make its return to Russia under Sergey Stepkin’s promotion. The vacant BBU middleweight title will be at stake in a fight between Russia-based Azerbaijani Vusal Aliyev (7-0, 4 KOs) and Ukrainian tough guy Bogdan Protsyshin (6-2, 1 KO) in a scheduled ten-rounder. Protsyshin is a special figure in Ukrainian boxing, coming out of nowhere to be in the finals of the local “Contender” series.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

On Sep. 16, debuting Latvian promoter Yuri Vasilyev staged a nice-packed show at Pharaoh Night club in Riga, Latvia. The show was highlighted by a return of Alexey Kosobokovs, a short version of local Prizefighter series and was headlined by none other than fringe super middleweight contender Mehdi Boudla.

France’s Boudla (23-4-1, 11 KOs), 29, was a sudden and honorable addition to the show. The Frenchman was coming off a spirited effort in a kayo loss to elite 168lb fighter Mikkel Kessler in June, proved his worth with a first-round annihilation of professional loser Dmitry Protkunas (11-35-2, 1 KO) of Estonian. Protkunas was floored thrice before the fight was stopped at 2:20.

Kosobokovs, 34, is a well-known personality across Europe. He acts as a manager, as a promoter, as an official and also as a fighter. Coming off nearly three years of inactivity, Kosobokovs (11-10, 5 KOs) knocked out Andris Ovsiannikovs (0-2) in just 35 seconds.

Finally, Semjons Moroseks (16-18-1, 6 KOs), 25, continued his improbable rise with his second tournament victory. Moroseks was just 8-18-1 in early June but since then scored two consecutive wins in the Latvian version of Prizefighter series. His biggest win, however, was a sensational first-round road knockout of Italian Lucian Abis (31-1-1) in July. Moroseks also has a win over 32-4 Denis Saioni on his ledger.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Several locally known figures celebrated their comebacks to the squared circle after moderately long periods of inactivity in Belarus.

On Sep. 18, local journeyman Alexey Volchan (18-12-2, 11 KOs) interrupted his latest series of losses with the first-round blowout of Alexey Rusak. Interestingly, Rusak (2-1, 2 KOs) was back into action just a couple of days later and easily drubbed irrelevant Rustam Statkevich (0-5), also in just a round.

On the same card, former EBU-EU heavyweight titleholder and challenger for the EBU crown Yaroslav Zavorotniy (15-6, 13 KOs) also resumed his boxing affairs by taking out inexperienced Vadim Zmitrovich (1-2, 1 KO).

The list of easy takedowns reached its peak on Sep. 25 at Olympic Sport Complex in Minsk, where three locally notable combatants simultaneously destroyed their less-than-mediocre opposition in opening rounds. Czech Michal Dufek (9-0-1, 6 KOs), Georgian Sandro Siproshvili (25-9, 12 KOs) and Russian Marina Krashenninikova (11-0, 4 KOs) were all victorious.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

On Wednesday, Sep. 21, undefeated welterweight Aslanbek Kozaev improved his record to 18-0, with 6 KOs, after the second-round blowout of trialhorse Alexnader Ivakhnov (2-4) in Vladikavkaz, Russia. Kozaev is already 5-0 this year but is looking forward for more wins this fall. A title fight is a possibility for the 23-year old Russian fighter in the near future.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Shukhrat Haydarov of Favzul Munavvar, a leading Uzbek promoter, staged another event at his home citadel in OQ-TEPA club on Thursday, Sep. 22. There were several local prospects who secured victories, including lightweight Bahrom Payozov (17-1, 11 KOs), light welterweight Sherali Mamajanov (10-0, 5 KOs), bantamweight Olim Nazarov (5-0, 3 KOs) and heavyweight Ahror Muralimov (6-0, 5 KOs).

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A day after in Gori, Georgia, Vazha Kvezereli invited several well-known fighters to populate his event of boxing, which was supervised by probably the best Georgian pro fighter in history Georgy Kandelaki, a promising heavyweight prospect and former amateur star, who retired in 2003 with a perfect pro record of 24-0, with 18 KOs.

In the main event, local middleweight hard-hitter Boris Mdinaradze improved his record to 19-1, with 15 KOs, with a KO in 4 over Tanzanian tough guy Selemani Said (10-5-2, 8 KOs) who gave hell to undefeated Ukrainian prospect Olexander Spirko in his latest fight.

Other notable results:

Robison Omsarashvili (8-1-2, 4 KOs) D 6 Sergey Malcev (7-2-2, 6 KOs). Score was 57-57.
Beka Sadjaia (27-14-1, 9 KOs) PTS 6 Aslan Aliyev (0-1)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

40-year old Bosnian Jovo “Kosac” Pudar (27-3, 16 KOs) continued his comeback story this past Friday night in Beograd, Serbia. Granite-chinned Pudar, a familiar figure to American fans, took out Argentinean Hector Alfredo Avila (17-11-1, 12 KOs) at 2:20 of the second round to retain his PABA title. Also victorious was Croatian heavyweight Jacov Gospic (10-3, 8 KOs). Luca Popovic and Dragan Ignatovic promoted this event of boxing.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Austria-based Russian lightweight Ali Chusseinov (23-0, 14 KOs) returns to action this coming Friday in Vienna against a yet to be determined opponent in a scheduled twelve-rounder. Promoter is Erwin Pfabl. Chusseinov, who fought almost exclusively soft opposition, is just 21 years of age.