By Dmitry Mikhalchuk (ringside) and Alexey Sukachev / Photo: Andrey ( K2 Promotions )

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) on June 26 at Odessa Palace of Sports. K2 Promotions Ukrainian branch staged its second big tournament since the founding, and Ustinov-Vidoz showdown for an EBA belt, currently owned by the Russian, was a headliner of the entire promotion.

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 a room for some better and 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 than 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 stanza. 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 a very dirty and boring half-a-clinchfest with Vidoz being by far ruder and dirtier fighter of 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 into a huge hole in Russian's defense in the eleventh and in the twelfth, but it was too little and surely too late to offer him any chances. All three judges saw it in favour of the K2 fighter with surprisingly various 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.

Ustinov looked satisfied with the outcome: “I am content with the actual result of this contest. Vidoz was a hard, rugged opponent but I cannot state that he was the hardest one. I was in tougher fights, for example versus British Michael Sprott”.

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In a co-main event, WBA #9 welterweight and EBA reigning champion Victor Plotnikov (now 24-1, 12 KOs) continued his rise at glory (and to a possible shot at Donetsk-based conutryman and WBA champion Vyacheslav Senchenko in another all-Ukrainian showdown) with the ninth-round stoppage of experienced Danish veteran Christian Bladt (35-11-2, 11 KOs).

Plotnikov used a smart approach to capture the first couple of rounds with his hard jabs and strong right hand. The Ukrainian fighter was a little bit more active while fighting on the inside and didn’t let his opponent in delivering a steady yet cautious performance. Bladt’s crisper and better-rounded left hooks found their room in Victor’s defense in the third stanza, which was in favour of the Danish fighter. Bladt kept pressuring forward and his aggressiveness woke up some counter actions by Plotnikov, which resulted in a crowd-pleasing activity in rounds four and five. The Danish import was just a bit tougher and more precise to take a lead.

Round six saw the final turnaround as Plotnikov used his superior right hand and wicked uppercuts at the end of the stanza both to create an advantage and to cut Bladt over his left eye. The brave Dane kept delivering left hooks (and sometimes he landed them pretty hard) and marched forward in rounds seven and eight but with each eaten punch it was harder and harder for him to maintain a pressure. In round nine, a ringside physician took a careful look at Bladt’s cut and asked Christian’s desire to let the fight on. The Dane refused to retire and referee Jose Ignacio Martinez allowed Bladt to continue his effort. However, after another series of Ukrainian’s punches he was no longer able to maintain his defense and the referee wisely halted this action in the midst of the ninth; Bladt’s cut bleeding profusely.

It’s worth noting that the fight was first announced as the tenth-round TKO win for Plotnikov erroneously giving him an extra round of action. “I’m very disappointed”, told Bladt afterwards. “I came here to win and to resurrect my career but Plotnikov proved to be a smart and tough fighter. His hands were way too quick for me, and the cut didn’t help much as well. Nevertheless, I think I wasn’t finished and referee did a bad job stopping the contest so early. I was ready to continue”.

“Well, I’m pretty much satisfied with this victory”, delivered his thoughts Plotnikov. “Actually, my right hand did the biggest damage and earned me this victory. I want to address some kind words for my tonight’s opponent. He came here not for a usual payday but to work hard. It was a difficult fight for me but I’m happy to retain my regalia and to move on”.

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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.

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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 were 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 four round five thus retiring 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 jab, right hand and left hook to the liver in the second. Ageev beat the count but was in no condition to continue.

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Rising lightweight prospect Oleksiy Bondarenko (5-0, 4 KOs) was forced to work hard in order to overcome some tough resistance of 42-year old veteran Rakhim 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 Bondarenko, who squeaked out with the technical decision.