By Alexey Sukachev and Dmitry Mikhachuk
2012 London Olympics heavyweight gold medalist Olexander Usyk (8-0, 8 KOs) continued his South African road of mayhem as he drubbed and then stopped Johnny Muller (19-5-2, 13 KOs) of Roodepoort, Gauteng, with a second shy of the end of round three of their twelve-round minor title affair. 28-year old Usyk further strengthened his position of a real cruiserweight contender. Usyk vs. Muller was a fight of the night, held at the Kiev Palace of Sports in Kiev, Ukraine, by K2 Promotions. Kiev mayor, K2 owner and ex-WBC heavyweight champion Vitaliy Klitschko enjoyed his protege's performance at ringside.
Mixing speed, reflexes and power, Usyk was way above the South African, whose best win came in one off the most controversial fights of the year - a split decision over experienced Pole Mateusz Masternak, which many considered to be a clear example of home cooking. Usyk was patient in round one, started to deliver heat to his opponent during the next stanza and finished his opponent in the third. Muller was down twice in the last round and then being mercilessly punished at the ropes with both body shots and left uppercuts when referee Ingo Barrabas saw enough and halted action at 2:59 of the third.
WBO #2 Usyk (who is originally from Crimea but fights out of Kiev, Ukraine) has successfully defended his WBO I/C 200lb title for the third time. He is a leading contender for the title, held by Pole Krzysztof Glowacki. WBO/WBA #15 Muller was the third fighter from the RSA Usyk has beaten in his last four fights.
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In a co-featured fight, light welterweight Denis Berinchyk (1-0, 1 KO) made his debut as a pro with a stoppage win over Belgian Tarik Madni (19-9-1, 1 KO). Berinchyk was part of the 2011/2012 Ukrainian amateur golden squad, which captured five gold medals in Baku 2011 and added two more during 2012 Summer Olympics. Diehard slugger Berinchyk got silver medals in both tourneys. In this particular bout, he was better throughout a fight, which ended between rounds four and five based on a broken nose by Madni, who was stopped for the third time in his career. Berinchyk also got facial marks - specifically to his right eyebrow.
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Other fights:
WBO #2 light middleweight Olexander Spirko (19-0, 11 KOs) destroyed Latvian import Eduards Gerassimovs (6-5-1, 6 KOs) with a single left hook to the body. Gerassimovs was stopped in one for the third time in a row.
Featherweight Oleg Malinovskiy (16-0, 5 KOs) won convincingly against hard-as-nails Uzbek Bahyt Abdurahimov (11-9, 5 KOs) but was unable to stop him within a distance, clinching a unanimous decision over eight rounds.
Light middleweight Khusein Baysangurov (4-0, 2 KOs) improved his record with a unanimous decision over Georgian Nodar Robakidze (14-14-3, 5 KOs) over eight rounds.
19-year old super middleweight Petro Ivanov (4-0, 1 KO) decisioned Georgian Beka Aduashvili (13-2, 6 KOs) unanimously over six. Also, Aram Faniyan (4-0) scored unanimous decision over four against debutant Vitaliy Manuilenko.