By Alexey Sukachev
It was a nice, coastal night at Coral Beach Hotel & Resort in Paphos, Cyprus, but surely not for eight men - partially professional boxers, partially glorified clubfighters and partially MMA masters - who gathered in a seashore paradise to define a winner of the second installment of a one-day tiny tournament, arranged tonight here by Bigger's Better Boxing Promotion. The first tournament took place also on Cyprus in May with Latvian Maris Briedis coming out as a sensational winner.
This time, Ukrainian Oleksiy Mazikin (16-5-2, 3 KOs) proved his status of heavy favorite, scoring three pretty hard wins on his way up to the championship and $15.000 (prize money were $30.000 total - for eight fighters). The Ukrainian fighter, promoted by German Titov, had wins over unbeaten boxers Artur Marabyan (11-0) and Valery Chechenev (10-0) earlier in his career and was once ranked in WBO top-15. He also scored two draws with German heavyweight hope Konstantin Airich.
Final
In a hard, a bit ugly fight between two towering behemoths, Ukrainian Oleksiy Mazikin somewhat dubiously decisioned Russian Evgueny Orlov (13-8-1, 8 KOs) over three rounds of lazy brawl. Mazikin was too big to run away from Orlov's viscid punches but he was too small at the same time to stop his bigger foe. He was more sharp and consistent in the first one and a half rounds to score more than the Russian. Orlov got bigger after the midst of the second when it became obvious the Ukrainian was tiring rapidly. After three rounds all three judges saw it in favor of Oleksiy Mazikin: 30-28 and 29-28 (twice). BoxingScene saw it differently scoring this fight a draw: 29-29.
Semifinals
1. Evgueny Orlov (now 13-7-1, 8 KOs) got a contoversial nod over Tomasz Sarara (1-1). Much bigger but also much slower Orlov used his usual dirty tactics to rough retreating Sarara every time he was able to corner his smaller opponent. The Pole boxed wisely using hit-and-run tactics, not without a good share of running around the ring. Orlov connected with some hard shots but mostly missed Sarara with his huge, leisured punches. On the other hand, Sarara wasn't very active offering the Russian fighter chances to simply outwork him in the ring. BoxingScene scored it 29-28 - for Sarara.
2. In the second semifinal, Oleksiy Mazikin (15-5-2, 3 KOs) didn't impress but did what he should have done in an unspectacular but dominant win over Ed Monso (1-1). The Danish fighter tried to get inside and was put on a steady diet of Ukrainian's jabs and right stoppers. Mazikin wisely clinched on Dane's way in and also used a bit of illegal tactics to frustrate his foe. He also got the decision both officially and by BScene (30-27).
Quarterfinals
1. In the first quarterfinal, towering and pudgy Russian plodder Evgueny Orlov (12-7-1, 8 KOs) proved to be too much for Swiss muay thai master Slavo Polugic (0-1), who was making his professional boxing debut in this fight. Orlov used his experience to even a huge deficit in velocity. He also floored Polugic late in round three to punctuate his victory.
2. Two boxing debutants collided in the second quarterfinal, as Pole Tomasz Sarara (1-0) got the better of fellow local kick boxer Christos Nikolau (0-1) over three heated rounds of hard but not that masterful action.
3. Ukrainian Oleksiy Mazikin (14-5-2, 3 KOs), former Ukrainian Olympian and a huge favorite to take the Big Prize, used his vast experience and overall superiority to take three easy rounds over Brit Lee Kellet (4-5-1, 3 KOs). Mazikin, a soft puncher, was unable to hurt his opponent.
4. In a "barnburner" (sorts of), Danish kick boxer Ed Monso (1-0, 1 KO) overwhelmed freakishly tall (7'2'') German Juergen (Jury) Franck (4-4, 4 KOs). There was no boxing in the squared, at least no conventional boxing as both contestants took part in what was more of a street fight. Less experienced but more durable Monso fought on even terms for two rounds and then suddenly exploded in the third, dropping Franck with a combination of a left hook to the body, a right hand to the mid section and an illegal punch behind the back of Franck's head. The German giant got up but showed no desire to continue thus making it a TKO 3 for the Dane.