By Francisco Salazar
Murodjon Akhmadaliev is on the fast track to success.
The junior bantamweight prospect remained unbeaten late Thursday night, knocking out Ramon Contreras in the opening round before a sold-out crowd of 1,242 inside The Hangar at the OC Fair and Events Center in Costa Mesa, California.
It was a clash between two southpaws, where Contreras was supposed to give provide a stern test, but after about a minute, Akhmadaliev displayed his pedigree.
A lead left hand to the body forced Contreras to immediately take a knee. Contreras remained on one knee as referee Thomas Taylor counted him out at 1:20.
With the victory, Akhmadaliev (4-0, 3 knockouts), who won a bronze medal for Uzbekistan at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, won a regional title belt and will likely receive a top 15 ranking by the WBA.
Akhmadaliev made his pro debut on Mar. 10. He now resides in Brooklyn, New York and is managed by Vadim Kornilov, who is best known for managing the career of Ruslan Provodnikov and current WBA light heavyweight titleholder Dmitry Bivol.
The 23-year-old Akhmadaliev is trained by Joel Diaz.
Contreras, who resides in Quellon, Chile, drops to 15-7, 6 KOs.
In junior featherweight action, Jose Casillas (2-0, 2 KOs) of nearby Maywood knocked out Ming Freeman (0-3) at 1:12 of the second round.
Roy Englebrecht Events promoted the hybrid (boxing and MMA) card.
Francisco A. Salazar has written for Boxingscene.com since September of 2012 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (Calif.) Star newspaper. He can be reached by email at santio89@yahoo.com or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing
