By Alexey Sukachev and Dmitry Mikhalchuk
Odessa - Towering (6'8'') Russian heavyweight prospect Alexander Ustinov (21-0, 16 KOs) showed some considerable refinement but ultimately failed to impress in his twelve-round unanimous decision over Italian veteran Paolo Vidoz (26-9, 15 KOs) moments ago at Odessa Palace of Sports.
Ustinov took the first couple of rounds with his superior activity, using his heavy jabs and right swings to shake Italian's block but also finding room for some better cleaner punches that tagged Vidoz several times. Ustinov's opponent offered little offence in return but defended himself pretty well. The Russian fighter (representing his adopted hometown of Minsk, Belarus) boxed more that fought in rounds three and four but was considerably better nevertheless. Interestingly though, it was him who had his nose bleeding after the fourth.
Vidoz tried to create some danger to his foe in the middle rounds and landed several notable blows but they failed to get Ustinov's attention; the Russian being just too sturdy and durable to be bothered by Vidoz' attacks. Vidoz also had his nose bleeding after the sixth. Round seven was in favour of pretty active Ustinov but both pugilists were fatigued at the end of that round. The Italian ex-EBU champion caught his second wind to land several jabs and a splendid left hook to get an edge in the eighth but round nine was once again in Ustinov's favour.
From round ten the fight turned into very dirty and boring half-a-clinchfest with Vidoz being by far more of a rude and dirty fighter between the two. He landed several clean low blows but amazingly lost no points at all despite several warnings by the referee. Vidoz tried to rock Ustinov with his trademark left hooks through the huge hole in Russian's defense in the eleventh and in the twelfth but it was too little and surely too late to give him any chances.
All three judges saw it in favour of the K2 Ukraine fighter with surprisingly different scores: 115-113, 119-109 and 120-108. A workmanlike and hardly an impressive performance for the WBA #6 Ustinov, who retained his EBA title in process.
In a co-main event WBA #9 welterweight and EBA reigning champion Victor Plotnikov (now 24-1, 12 KOs) continued his rise to glory (and to a possible shot at Donetsk-based conutryman and WBA champion Vyacheslav Senchenko in another all-Ukrainian showdown) with the tenth-round stoppage of experienced Danish veteran Christian Bladt (35-11-2, 11 KOs).
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Lightweight prospect Valentyn Holovko moved up to 12-0, with 7 KOs, after a dominating stoppage of durable but limited Rustam Memetov (3-2). Holovko was a better man in the first round but the next couple of rounds was pretty even with Memetov having his share of success on the inside. He suffered a bad cut over his left eye-brow and referee warned he had just one round left. The journeyman failed to impress in the fourth and was cut once more on the bridge of his nose so that the fight was stopped just after the fourth round in Holovko's favour.
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Super bantamweight crowd-pleaser Mamed Yadgarov (15-5, 9 KOs) proved his skills against late sub in Kenyan John Gicharu (13-7-1, 6 KOs). Yadgarov rocked his African opponent with a massive overhand right in the first and dominated him in the second and in the third stanzas. He finished his job in style pounding Gicharu relentlessly at the corner, when the fight was stopped (albeit a little bit too early) in the midst of round four.
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Lithuanian lightweight Arvydas Trizno (4-3) looked like a hard nut for almost four rounds fighting back to local prospect Artem Ayvazidi (9-0, 4 KOs) but was decked badly after a picture-perfect combo of right cross and left uppercut. He barely beat the count but failed to answer the bell for round five thus retiting in his corner.
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Talented welterweight Olexander Spirko (9-0, 5 KOs) started his fight against badly faded Estonian Leontiy Vorontsuk (19-47-1, 6 KOs) with a bang dropping him twice in the opening stanza. The one-sided beating went on in the second round. In round three both fighters' heads clashed resulting in two deep cuts. Vorontsuk's cut was deeper thus awarding Spirko with a TKO victory.
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Zaurbek Baysangurov's younger (and heavier) brother Salambek (5-0, 3 KOs) used his left jab to evaluate light heavyweight no-hoper Andrey Ageev (2-14, 1 KO) in the first to drop him down with the triple combo of the left left jab, right hand and left hook to the liver in the second. Agev beat the count but was in no condition to continue.
Rising lightweight prospect Olaksiy Bondarenko (5-0, 4 KOs) was forced to work hard in order to overcome some tough resistance of 42-year old veteranRakhim Mingaleev (27-63-1, 8 KOs). Bondarenko, who spent less than seven rounds in the ring in his previous four fights started this battle ultra aggressively but failed to distribute his stamina over the distance. As the result he punched himself out in the first couple of rounds and after that Mingaleev started to give him fits. The bout was stopped in the seventh after a deep cut suffered by Mingaleev. Scores were 68-66, 69-64 and 69-66 - for Bondernako, who squeaked out with the technical decision.
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WBO #8 light middleweight Dmitry Nikulin (21-0, 8 KOs) looked a better fighter than his Kenyan opponent George Dimoso (7-5-2, 4 KOs). He pushed him from pillar to post for two rounds bit it was an accidental headbutt that created a hug cut on Dimoso's left cheekbone at the starters of the second. His condition worsened with every punch thrown by Nikulin, so that the fight was stopped between rounds two and three in favour of Nikulin, who got his eighth stoppage win.
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In a wild slugfest and clearly the best fight of the undercard Ukrainian heavyweight Andrey Rudenko (18-0, 11 KOs) knocked out Kenyan Raymond Ochieng (22-12-3, 18 KOs) in three rounds. The African fighter proved he was there not only for his payday and offered Rudenko a tough job to accomplish. The Kenyan fighter landed several punches of note but his flawed defense got him in the third when he was dropped three times (once after a wicked left hook - right cross combo) for an automatic stoppage.
