By Alexey Sukachev
The Moscow boxing scene is heavily dominated by the “World of Boxing” (led by Andrey Ryabinskiy), while local Armenians Shamir Petrosyan and Aram Davtyan make an ethnic background of lesser prizefighting activities in the capital of Russia. Newcomers to the business have been sparse recently, female promoters being almost unique.
However, this past Friday, both a female promoter and a newcomer emerged in the city with her first official installment. Entering the circuit was Aza Savlaeva, who represents Caesar Promotions, a relatively new player in business. The new company is based upon a gym, named “Boyevye Perchatki” (“The Fight Gloves”), situated in Tsaritsino district of Moscow and led by Alexander Pogorelov, a former multi-time kickboxing champion. Russian and Uzbek fighters form the core of a new breed.
The opening show, named “Confrontation”, took place at the Korston Hotel in Moscow, Russia. Seven fights featured mostly recent debutants or journeymen, but boxers were paired carefully enough to make it a very competitive show, not a common approach among some other promoters. Watching the event was Russia’s only 2016 Olympic boxing champion Evgueny Tischenko who abstained from making any statements on his immediate future.
Drobnov vs. Samedov
Opening the card were debutant Dmitry Drobnov and one-fight opponent Elnur Samedov. The latter – from Noyabrsk, Russia, but originally from Azerbaijan – preferred to stay outside, trying to outjab and to outbox Drobnov. The debuting boxer pressed action, tried to cut angles and loaded up on vicious punches. But his precision betrayed him, and there was no power in his punches to rely on.
Meanwhile, Samedov continued to tag Drobnov with sudden stinging left hooks, and added heavy body punches from round two. Drobnov tried to fight his groove but failed to find any. Samedov hurt Drobnov with serious body shots again in round three, and easily dominated him in the fourth and final round. All three judges awarded the bout to Elnur Samedov (now 2-0) with identical scores: 40-36, 40-36, and 40-36. Drobnov drops down to 0-1.
Tsarikaeva vs. Dongak
Minimumweight Snezhana Tsarikaeva (2-0, 1 KO), one of only two female boxers on the card, continued her way up after a one-sided unanimous decision over 19-yeard old debutant Taygana Dongak (0-1). Dongak boxed like an amateur, lacked skills and maturity but gave her heart to last till the final bell. Tsarikaeva was much more consistent, staying tight, using all her diminutive frame while throwing her punches and being very aggressive. All three scorecards marked a clean sweep in her favour: 40-36 x3.
Uzokov vs. Kyrgyzbaev
Both Lazizbek Uzokov of Buhara, Uzbekistan, and Suyunbek Kyrgyzbaev of Kara-Suu, Kyrgyzstan, are journeymen with deeply negative records. But they – maybe more than any other pair of the night – gave fans what they really want: thrilling action mixed up with guts and character.
Lightweight Uzokov, who has fought and stopped Kyrgyzbaev two years ago, was late at the venue and was taped also very late, forcing the organizers to wait extra five or seven minutes before getting into the ring. Kyrgyzbaev, meanwhile, was highly motivated to halt his six-fight losing streak (five of his six losses coming by way of knockout) and earn his first career win.
The Kyrgyz boxer started better than Uzokov, using his hooks and (to a lesser extent) jab to control the Uzbek. The latter was lethargic, eating many heavy shots en course of the action. The turn was marked in round three, when Uzokov finally found some ground and planted his legs to land body shots and to slow Suyunbek down. Also helping him much was a good share of dirty tactics he used to annoy his opponent – specifically hitting on the break, while referee Alexander Gorstkov was a bit too loyal to his tricks.
In round five, Uzokov started to take over. Kyrgyzbaev was very brave but also a sitting duck for Lazizbek. The Uzbek felt the fight was once again up for grabs and finished it in style, drubbing his foe all over the ring. At the end, all three judges awarded it narrowly to Uzokov: 59-56, 58-56, and 58-56. He is now 4-11-2, 2 KOs, while Kyrgyzbaev is down to 0-7, still waiting for his first pro win.
Mkrtchyan vs. Kujdinov
Two opposite styles collided as taller, thinner Kazakh stylist Abdurashit Kujdinov relied on his boxing intellect and snappy jab, while shorter, stockier Armenian Gegam Mkrtchyan preferred to use his power and to be aggressive during a non-title six-rounder.
Kujdinov was light on his feet, boxing circles over Mkrtchyan, peppering him with the jab and (sometimes) uppercuts but doing little to prevent him from rushing in and adding to little power shots. Mkrtchyan, on the other hand, was doing less but his power was well felt. After six-rounds BoxingScene had it a draw: 57-57. Meanwhile, two judges awarded the fight to the Armenian: 59-56 and 58-56, while the third one chose it in favour of Kujdinov (now 1-1): 57-58. Thus Mkrtchyan was given a split decision victory over six rounds, and he is now 7-3-3, 1 KO.
Lazarev vs. Bobodjonov
The fight of the same stylistic mix-up broke out in the next fight between a decorated Ukrainian amateur Denis Lazarev, and his Uzbek opponent Kobijon Bobodjonov, a relatively new and unknown figure.
Welterweight Lazarev, 27, is a former teammate of reigning world champions Vasyl Lomachenko and Olexander Usyk, being a part of Ukraine Otamans, a WSB franchise with the Ukrainian connection. A stocky-built slugger, he relies on his power and aggressiveness.
Lazarev started well but Bobodjonov did his share of work beautifully, forcing the Ukrainian to miss much, landing his punches well. As the fight – scheduled for eight – progressed, Bobodjonov began to feel fatigue. Lazarev increased his tempo in order to get past his opponent but the Uzbek fought well right till the end, making it very tough for Lazarev. Final scores, however, were in Lazarev’s favour: 76-76, 77-75, and 78-75. With a majority decision the Ukrainian improves to 7-0, 2 KOs, while Bobodjonov is now 2-2, 1 KO. BoxingScene was in agreement with the first score.
Khamikoev vs. Avetisyan
Karen Avetisyan is best known as one of only three fighters (besides Isaac Chilemba and Bernard Hopkins) not to be stopped by Sergey Kovalev. Durability was always a coolprint for former Russian and WBC ABC super middleweight champion but going into a fight versus Ruslan Khamikoev, Avetisyan was just 0-8-1 in his recent fights going in.
Fresher, younger Khamikoev was boxing well, covering well against rare Avetisyan’s outbursts and landing punches in bunches early on. Karen made a short comeback in mid rounds but Khamikoev was once again better in rounds six and seven, rocking and wobbling the Barnaul-based Armenian, forcing him to hold much in order to prevent himself from going down.
In round eight, Avetisyan accelerated again but it seemed to be too little and too late to get a chance for a positive outcome even despite marking and bleeding his Ossetian opponent. Judges thought otherwise, not choosing a winner: 75-77, 77-75, and 77-77. Avetisyan is now 9-15-3, 4 KOs, while Khamikov is now 6-1-1, with 3 stoppage wins.
Kotov vs. Churbanov
In yet another thriller, which also served as the tourney’s main event, 20-year old local boxer Alexander Kotov entered his collision versus 30-year old Maxim Churbanov as a favorite.
Sporting flashy pink trunks, Kotov was also a flash in the ring, moving fastly, scoring with blistering combos, landing them with zeal. However, his deceiving end was also found soon, as he used primarily hooks, being short on uppercuts, jabs, crosses et cetera, making him not a one-trick pony but someone close to it. His defense was also negligible.
On the other hand, Churbanov, who wilted under Kotov’s power, clinched much and also had a huge swelling on his shaved skull early on, began to land sneakier, but more effective punches as the fight progressed. Kotov was looking better in exchanges but the fight was slightly moving into Churbanov’s direction. Both boxers received much punishment during the first six rounds.
Kotov was fatigued more than Churbanov, entering the seventh. It’s where he ate a colossal right cross that almost put him down unconsciously. Miraculously, Kotov survived but was wobbling till the end of the fight, battling his foe, his stamina issues and wobbly condition.
Kotov did survive till the end of the fight that was dead even for the BoxingScene: 76-76. But judges saw it otherwise – awarding it to Churbanov with a unanimous decision. No scores were announced, what fueled up some negative reaction from the local crowd. As BoxingScene learned, one of the scores was 78-75 – for Churbanov, who moves up to 4-2-1. Alexander Kotov is now 5-2, 2 KOs.
