Zaurbek Baysangurov Dispatches Miranda in 51 Seconds

By Alexey Sukachev

In one of the most horrible title mismatches in a long-long time, incapable and hugely undeserved Brazilian challenger Mike Miranda (34-4, 31 KOs) was destroyed by hard-charging Kiev-based Russian Zaurbek Baysangurov (26-1, 20 KOs) in just 51 seconds of the opening bell at the Odessa Palace of Sports in Odessa, Ukraine. The "fight" shouldn't have been sanctioned for any version of the world title in the first place, but it had been allowed by the World Boxing Organization to fill in a vacancy of a so-called "WBO interim light middleweight championship".

Southpaw Miranda, who was almost criminally ranked #5 by the WBO, hasn't scored a meaningful win for eight years and has one-sidedly lost on points to a 7-2 fighter just four bouts earlier. WBO #5, WBC #7 and IBF #14 Baysangurov, on the other hand, is a legitimate contender in the 154lb division with his only loss coming in December 2008 to currently reigning IBF king Cornelius Bundrage.

An enormous gap in skills proved to be correct immediately after the start. 38-year old Miranda, who barely came just a couple of pounds behind a welterweight limit yesterday, made an ill-wise attempt to make a brawl in the starting seconds but soon found himself stepping back around the ring. A short retreat ended very soon after a short right hook by Baysangurov, which barely landed on Miranda's whiskers while penetrating his weak guard at the same time. The Brazilian went down and comfortably sat down until referee Robert Byrd has counted him out.

Baysangurov, a proud Chechen native, is now the WBO interim light middleweight champion. His next goal is a winner of Sergey Dzinziruk vs. Lukas Konecny showdown for the full title. Both fights (Dzinziruk against Konecny and the winner against Baysangurov) would prove to be much more interesting than this "contest". K2 Ukraine has promoted the event. More results to come soon...