Shavkat Rakhimov made it count the second time around.
An historic win was produced by Tajikistan’s Rakhimov, who claimed the IBF junior lightweight title on his second try in a ninth-round knockout of Zelfa Barrett. Rakhimov was dropped in round three but rallied back to twice floor Barrett in forcing the stoppage at 2:35 of round nine Saturday on DAZN from Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
The win was part of a three-title fight show, with its place in the lineup making it the first-ever major title fight to take place in Abu Dhabi.
Rakhimov was originally due to challenge Wales’ Joe Cordina, who was stripped of the IBF title due to suffering a broken hand requiring surgery which left him unavailable to defend the belt in time. The unbeaten southpaw—who is trained by Hall of Famer cornerman Freddie Roach—didn’t seem to care who he faced in his second major title challenge, as he quickly adapted to the fleet-of-foot Barrett. Rakhimov effectively cut off the ring, though Barrett was able to play defensive and avoid most of the incoming.
Manchester’s Barrett continued to fight in reverse and often against the ropes in round two. Rakhimov used his jab as a range finder but was unable to get off his straight left or right hook in time to pin down Barrett. Rakhimov managed a straight left hand upstairs, which Barrett took well and later came back with a combination and a left hook.
A left hand by Rakhimov early in round three caught the attention of Barrett, who immediately shifted from boxer to aggressor. A right hand by the streaking Brit buckled Rakhimov, with a subsequent uppercut from Barrett producing the bout’s first knockdown. Rakhimov used the ropes to steady himself, accurately ruled a knockdown.
Rakhimov twice complained of non-existent low blows, to which Barrett exploited by going on the attack against his unsuspecting foe. Barrett once again clipped Rakhimov with an uppercut in round four, though the Tajikistani was able to remain upright.
The promise of using feints to set up his power shots was absent from Rakhimov’s attack before implementing what he trained for, in a productive round five. Barrett’s offense slowed, while Rakhimov used head movement to slip Barrett’s straight shots and then come back with straight left hands along the ropes.
Rakhimov carried over the momentum into a productive round six before Barrett was able to sit down on his punches in a much-needed bounce back round in the seventh. Rakhimov continued to apply pressure, which Barrett was able to exploit in landing a counter right hand down the middle.
Barrett began to run out of ring space after spending much of round eight on the move. Rakhimov was effective in his body attack, while Barrett was suddenly on wobbly legs. Rakhimov floored Barrett with a little more than a minute to go, causing a dramatic momentum shift. Barrett beat the count but his corner was already prepared to throw in the towel.
Rakhimov closed the show, sending Barrett to the canvas a second time in forcing referee Mark Nelson to immediately stop the contest.
Barrett—who took the fight on five weeks’ notice—falls to 28-2 (16KOs) after a valiant effort in his first title bid
The win leaves Rakhimov (17-0-1, 14KOs) as the first Tajikistan-born boxer to win a major title. It comes on his second try, after fighting an overweight Joseph ‘JoJo’ Diaz to a twelve-round draw in what became a vacant IBF 130-pound title fight last February in Indio, California.
Per an IBF ruling, Rakhimov must—and is already signed to—next defend against Cordina. The bout is expected to take place early next spring.
Headlining the show, WBA light heavyweight titlist Dmitry Bivol (20-0, 11KOs) defends against mandatory challenger and former WBO super middleweight titlist Gilberto ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez (44-0, 30KOs).
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox
