Russia and the U.S. are arguably at the lowest point of their rocky relationship in years, but professional boxing remains one of very thin, shaky bridges still opened between two countries.
While Americans are urged to steer clear of Russia, Sam “The Hillbilly Hammer” Shewmaker chose to gamble and accepted an invitation to the main event of the show, promoted by Pravda Boxing in Vladikavkaz, Russia. Opposing Shewmaker – who is best known as a bare-knuckle competitor rather than a conventional boxer – was the “Russian Hammer” Dmitry Kudryashov, and the fight expectedly didn’t last long; Kudryashov coming out as a KO 1 winner.
Shewmaker was met warmly by the local crowd, who remained standing for both American and Russian national anthems. There were no signs of animosity towards the American in the crowd. In the ring it was obviously different but the fight didn’t last for long. The first right cross thrown by Kudryashov, which landed cleanly, put Shewmaker down for the count. Time was 1:34 of the first. The American is now 5-2, without KOs, while Kudryashov goes up to 26-6, with 25 KOs.
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Once world-rated light welterweight Georgy Chelokhsaev (22-2-1, 15 KOs) came back after a year off the ring with the fourth-round stoppage of rookie Magomedrasul Omarov (2-1, 1 KO) in the co-main event.
Chelokhsaev immediately started engaging Omarov in exchanges. The younger, fresher fighter stood his ground in the first couple of rounds, but in the third Chelokhsaev started to take over. He dropped Omarov twice with wicked body shots in the third and did it once more in the fourth. The 20-year old refused to come out of his corner for round five.
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Lightweight Soslan Baev (8-1, 4 KOs) thrilled the local crowd with a fan-friendly slugfest with fellow Russian Andrey Kirichenko (2-2, 2 KOs). The fight ended at 1:26 of the fifth round after Baev dropped Kirichenko for the fifth time.
Despite numerous suffered knockdowns, Kirichenko was game and courageous. He didn’t hesitate to engage Baev in two-way exchanges, though he took more than he handed. Kirichenko was briefly down in round one, twice in round two, and once in round three. In the fourth round, he was able to stand his ground and gave Baev a solid fight.
The end came with a major left hook to the chin of Kirichenko. Andrey got up but wobbled to the corner, imploring the referee to stop the contest.