By David P. Greisman
Agapito Sanchez dispatched Artyom Simonyan with a one-punch knockout to retain his USBA junior featherweight title at the Allstate Arena in
The stoppage came at the halfway point of the fifth round, after referee Pete Podgorski, having asked Simonyan to walk forward after rising from the canvass, was dissatisfied with his wobbled, wounded state.
Sanchez’s victory came as a result of a looping overhand right, a punch that caught his opponent flush the whole night. Simonyan stood up straight, stiff and prone, and did not take advantage of Sanchez’s wide punches to land counters and regain control.
Instead, Sanchez, an awkward veteran who has been in the ring with a virtual Who’s Who of featherweights, from Oscar Larios and Juan Manuel Marquez to Manny Pacquiao and Marco Antonio Barrera, dictated the pace of each of the five rounds, boxing from a distance, then jumping forward with overhand rights that were surprisingly effective.
The most important contact prior to the match’s final punch was a head butt that busted Simonyan’s left eyebrow open in the latter portion of round one. The clash occurred when Sanchez leaned forward while throwing a left hook to the body, and his crown rammed into Simonyan.
Simonyan appeared befuddled by Sanchez’s movement, and despite a lengthy amateur career, his limited professional tenure (five years, seventeen fights) left him frustrated to the point that as the bell signaled the end of round four, he placed the palm of his glove to Sanchez’s face and pushed.
Conversely, it was a clean fight from Sanchez, whose reputation preceded him largely due to his foul-filled technical draw with Pacquiao in 2001.
It was the second consecutive knockout loss for Simonyan, who drops to
Sanchez improves to 37-9-2 with 22 wins via knockout.
On the undercard, Irish middleweight prospect John Duddy remained undefeated in entertaining fashion by knocking out Patrick Coleman in the eighth and final round, a left hook and right cross sending his opponent to the mat and prompting the referee to halt the bout with thirty seconds remaining.
Duddy moves to 11-0 with 10 knockouts, while Coleman falls to 29-12 (20).