Ekaterinburg- In a minor upset, TBRB #6 and WBA #13 ranked super middleweight Pavel Silyagin (13-0-1, 6 KOs) was held to a split draw by fellow compatriot Evgeny Shvedenko (16-1-1, 7 KOs) with both fighters having their chances during the encounter. And in another blatant sample of very bad announcing habits and organizational wrongdoing, no official scores were declared in the ring after the final bell, which should have been a must after the fight that tight. BoxingScene saw it 95-95 – also a draw.
Sakhalin-born Shvedenko, who started his pro career in 2015 in Russia but fought mostly in Central Europe, was just one fight removed from his lone career loss to William Scull, while Silyagin was on a rise since he debuted in 2020.
The fight was very tactical from round one. Silyagin, 30, a switch-hitting stylist was moving well during the first half of this chess match, using jabs to probe Shvedenko and adding light but multi-punch combinations. Silyagin also clinched on the inside whenever Shvedenko landed a punch or two. His opponent, three years older than Silyagin, was a notch slower and initially struggled to find his range and timing. His punches, however, looked more dangerous and produced more effect. Silyagin, on the other hand, landed more and looked more elusive.
During the second half of the bout, Shvedenko found what he was missing before and started landing quick overhand lefts. He evened the situation and began to dominate in the closing rounds. Silyagin suffered some facial damage (a bleeding nose and a cut over his left eye) and ate some good shots in the closing two rounds. But he has also done enough not to lose the fight in those rounds.
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In a controversial fight, light welterweight Ivan Kozlovsky (9-0, 4 KOs) was lucky to escape with a majority decision over former IBF lightweight title challenger Isa Chaniev in a very scrappy fight.
Southpaw Kozlovsky of Novosibirsk, aged 26, started fast and confident. Chaniev of Nazran was less active and took pauses in the first. In the second, however, a major change occurred when Isa opened a cut over Ivan’s right eye, putting him in a dangerous zone. It wasn’t a cut though, which troubled Kozlovsky. It was Chaniev who started to box more subtly, worked angles and found room for his punches. The more experienced boxer was an aggressor, while Kozlovsky was forced to be more on the defensive.
Rounds two and three were for Chaniev but Kozlovsky evened things up in the fourth with more accurate punching and counterpunching. He was also slightly better in the fifth and in the sixth but in the next two rounds Chaniev, who was stopped in two by Richard Commey for a vacant IBF 135lb title, had an upper hand. The fight went back and forth until the very end. Though Isa Chaniev was better in the closing round, it was Kozlovsky who finished stronger.
BoxingScene had it 96-95 – for Isa Chaniev (15-5-1, 7 KOs), but official judges saw it differently: 98-92, 97-93 – for Ivan, and 95-95 a draw. Kozlovsky got valuable experience and has lots of homework to do.
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Light welterweight standout Khariton Agrba (12-0, 8 KOs) shone in a one-sided stoppage of Panamanian import Alexander Duran (21-2, 7 KOs), further improving everyone’s impression about his prospects.
Light-footed southpaw stylist Agrba, 27, combined offensive outbursts with smart movement around the ring, frustrating the Panamanian and forcing him to hit air. Duran, 31, tried to counter the Russian switch-hitter with his own offensive but he was too slow, and his reflexes weren’t sharp enough.
Agrba wisely chose punches. Left crosses were often mixed with body work and potent right jab. Punch output was also mixed, frustrating Duran even more – sometimes Agrba poured with multi-punch combinations, sometimes he was relatively idle but suddenly threw effective single punches. Duran lost his confidence and ate too many shots in rounds eight and ten, although he hasn’t been rocked at any point. Yet, pressure and an overall load of eaten leather were too much for the Panamanian, and he surrendered in his corner after nine rounds of scheduled eight.