By Alexey Sukachev
The scene is set for the last big boxing event in Russia this year. Tomorrow Vladimir Hryunov, the soundest Russian promoter in recent memory, takes over Dynamo Palace of Sports in Krylatskoye, Moscow, Russia, to stage a card billed as “The Winner Takes it All”. Today a weigh-in procedure for the chief players has been held to place certain numbers in the protocols.
Roy Jones (56-8, 40 KOs), 44, definitely the natural star of the show, tipped the scale at 197.5 pounds for his cruiserweight match-up against 36-yaer old Frenchman Zine Eddine Banmakhlouf (17-3-1, 8 KOs). The fight is set for the vacant World Boxing Union 200lb title and will be supervised by Marina Milovanova.
Benmakhlouf (originally Zinnedine Ben Makhlouf) hasn’t been seen in the ring since March 2012. He is best known for his win over capable French cruiser Jean-Marc Monrose, and he also holds a draw against former WBA interim titleholder Steve Herelius. Once a heavyweight, he made his transition to a lower weight class, following his TKO 1 loss to Gregory Tony in 2008. He was defeated only by unbeaten fighters, having also lost to Carlos Takam (a debutant at the time) and 13-0 Sebastian Koeber.
In the co-main event of the evening an interim world title will be contested, when Dmitry Chudinov (11-0-2, 7 KOs) will be opposed by former Colombian amateur standout Juan Camilo Novoa (22-5-1, 20 KOs) for a vacant WBA middleweight interim belt. The vacant “regular” crown will be up for grabs on Feb. 1 in Monaco, when Martin Murray fights Jarrod Fletcher. On the same night and at the same WBA Super champion Gennady Golovkin defends against Ghanaian Osumana Adama.
WBA #6 Chudinov is looking to close a very busy year (5-0-1, with 4 KOs since Dec. 17 of 2012) on a high note. He was in perfect physical shape, weighing in at 159.3. Novoa, his opponent, hit the scales at 158.1. The Columbian enjoyed a fast start of his career, going 9-0, with 9 KOs but soon after that hit the post, going just 3-5-1 in two and a half years between August 2007 and March 2010. WBA #7 Novoa is 8-0, 8 KOs, after that fighting exclusively in Panama and Colombia.
Supporting featured bouts of the evening is a two-match rivalry between Russian and Tanzanian boxers. Lightweight hard-hitter Eduard Troyanovskiy (16-0, 13 KOs) looks to extend his recent series of prompt kayo wins against Allan Kamote (23-6-4, 13 KOs) in a scheduled ten-rounder, while Dmitry’s brother Fedor Chudinov (8-0, 6 KOs) is penciled for eight against Francis Cheka (30-7-1, 16 KOs).
Talented light heavyweight Sergey Ekimov (7-0, 2 KOs) will be tested by tough road warrior Konstantin Piternov (15-4, 6 KOs). In another local collision, recent debutant Ilya Rolgeyzer (1-0) will take on dangerous upset artist Ruslan Semenov (5-25-1, 3 KOs) over six. The card will be kicked off by light welterweights Ramal Amanov (3-0) and Sevak Bagdasaryan (0-1), who are matched against each other in a four-rounder.