Ekaterinburg – Russian light heavyweight Vasily Voytsekhovsky (13-0, 7 KOs) survived the toughest test of his career by overcoming tough and ultra experienced Argentinean veteran Ezequiel Osvaldo Maderna (31-12, 21 KOs) with a questionable majority decision over ten rounds in an even fight.
Voytsekhovsky, 27, an aggressive slugger with diminished defensive skills, tried to apply pressure to 2008 Argentinean Olympian, but Maderna was elusive early in the fight. He dodged the vast majority of Vasiliy’s power punches and occasionally responded with counters of his own. In the second round, Maderna, 38, timed Voytsekhovsky well on his way in, but Vasiliy also had mild success with his sheer aggression.
The third round was different. Maderna started this stanza with several combinations, rocking and wobbling Voytsekhovsky with his still imposing uppercuts. The Russian fighter was trying hard to survive through the round, and he was able to do so despite completely losing the round. In the fourth, the Argentinean looked to capitalize on his success in the previous round but Voytsekhvsky stood his ground and gave Maderna fits in a back-and-forth close round.
Mid rounds were fought in medium tempo. Maderna wasn’t punching much but he was quite successful when he punched. Voytsekhovsky threw more but didn’t land enough. Round eight was taken off by Maderna, who tried to preserve energy for the closing rounds. Yet, he wasn’t energetic enough to really trouble the Russian, who did his best to make round nine and ten as tight as possible. Scores were: 95-95, 96-94, and 96-94 – for the Russian. BoxingScene had it 95-95 – a draw.
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WBA #15 lightweight Vildan Minasov improved his record to 13-1, 8 KOs, becoming just the second fighter to stop durable compatriot Isa Chaniev inside the distance; the first being Richard Commey in a fight for a vacant IBF belt in February 2019.
Chaniev tried to match Minasov’s aggression but soon reverted to more sophisticated, defensive boxing. He had his chances early on but determined Minasov paid little attention to his punches, marching forward and outslugging his more experienced opponent. Chaniev remained game and elusive but also ate more and more punches with each round. Seeing enough, his corner retired Chaniev after six complete rounds. Isa’s record drops down to 15-6-1, 5 KOs. Minasov also has decision wins over former champions Paulus Moses and Rene Alvarado.
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Hard-punching super middleweight Nikita Zon scored a fifth-round stoppage over rugged and durable Iranian veteran Sajad Mehrabi in a two-way contest. Mehrabi, 37, who has built his career abroad, looked solid in the first two rounds but then slowly deteriorated under Zon’s power. Mehrabi was too muscular and too slow to land consistently. Zon’, 30, his hands mostly down, landed big solid punches and took little in return.
Mehrabi’s punch output decreased with each fought round, and in the fifth Zon’ was hitting him at will. Referee Roman Petrov stopped the fight after the end of round one, although the certain reason remained enigmatic. Sajad Mehrabi, whose record dropped down to 4-2-1, 3 KOs, was bitterly disappointed and left the ring before the official announcement. Zon’ improves to 8-0-1, 6 KOs.
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TBRB #7 super middleweight Pavel Silyagin was a man on a mission today. He needed to erase bad memories of his previous fight with fellow compatriot Evgeny Shvedenko, when he managed to score just a draw. He did exactly that, annihilating his undefeated opponent Rizvan Elikhanov in 164 seconds.
WBA #12 Silyagin, 30, probed Elikhanov early on. Finding something of note, he began looking for a spot. He found one at the end of the second minute of the first round, dropping Elikhanov with a huge left hook. The Chechen fighter got up on shaky legs but continued fighting. Silyagin immediately jumped at his wobbled opponent and punched him until the referee stepped in to save Elikhanov. Silyagin is now 14-0-1, with 7 KOs. Elikhanov’s record looks almost the same: 14-1-0, with 13 KOs.
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Undefeated welterweights Sergey Lubkovich and Maxim Cherniciuk ended their collision in a hard-fought ten-round draw. Scores were: 95-95 (twice) and 96-94 – for Cherniciuk. BoxingScene had it the same as the last judge.
Cherniciuk, slightly taller of the two but also packing a weaker punch, immediately tried to seize control of the fight, while Lubkovich opted to work outside. Cherniciuk marched forward, throwing more, landing slightly more, but his punches didn’t trouble Lubkovich. However, Lubkovich’s best leather also wasn’t enough to trouble Cherniciuk, although his punches produced thicker and louder sound when landed cleanly.
As rounds went by, Cherniciuk looked slightly better than his foe, but Lubkovich was always game and resilient till the end. Lubkovich, 28, is now 16-0-1, with 10 KOs, which includes wins over Jose Ruiz, Karim Mayfield and Victor Plotnikov among others. Young Cherniciuk stays put at 6-0-1, with just a single kayo.
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WBA #12 light welterweight Khariton Agrba overcame the toughest resistance today from a suddenly durable late sub Vahe Sarukhanyan, scoring a bleeding stoppage after eight complete rounds.
28-year-old southpaw Agrba, who has marched through a line of solid opponents recently, was originally scheduled to face Argentinean veteran Marcelino Nicholas Lopez; Sarukhanyan, who hasn’t fought as a pro for more than two-and-a-half years, coming as a late substitute. Active Agrba dominated the first four rounds with active aggression and blistering combinations. Vage, who has never been known to be a devastating puncher, relied on his defensive skills. He smothered many punches, dodged real danger, but still didn’t do enough to earn pints.
The fight saw a turnaround in round five, when Sarukhanyan was especially effective with hard counter rights. One of those opened a nasty cut over Khariton’s right eye. Vage capitalized on a sudden success, taking the rest of the fifth and also outpunching Agrba in the sixth.
But when it seemed Vage snatched control of the fight, Agrba showed why he is considered one of Russia’s finest prospects. He regrouped under fire and started to land punches again. In one of the heated exchanges in round seven, he avenged his cut by opening the same gash over Sarukhanyan’s left eye. Agrba continued beating Vage Sarukhanyan to the punch in round eight, until Vage had a look of a completely beaten man. Sarukhanyan retired in his corner after eight completer rounds, dropping his record to 20-4-2, with 4 KOs. Agrba prevails and moves up to 13-0, 9 KOs.
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In a battle of youth and experience, youth prevailed again, as cruiserweight Denis Savitskiy, 26, outpointed former contender-turned-gatekeeper Sergey Ekimov (18-5, 9 KOs) unanimously over eight rounds. Savitskiy used his solid jab to control Ekimov, but the latter gave him some mild trouble with sudden throttles, and Savitskiy’s defense wasn’t world-class in this fight. He also wasn’t very consistent with his power punches but still did more than enough to outpoint his 38-year-old opponent. Ekimov also showed signs of rustiness after being out of the ring for more than two years.
Savitskiy improves to 9-0-1, 6 KOs. Ekimov suffered his fifth straight loss after notching 18 wins in his first 18 fights; his career being derailed by injuries and serious spans of inactivity. Still he owns solid wins over former WBA Interim super middleweight beltholder Stanislav Kashtanov, Ghanaian journeyman Charles Adamu, and Cuban Miguel Velozo.
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In a battle of super bantamweight debutants, Alexey Kiselev earned a unanimous decision over four rounds against Rasul Dzhaaev. There were no knockdowns.
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Stocky, muscular former Uzbek amateur standout Odiljon Aslonov (7-0-1, 3 KOs) showed his best skills against lightly-regarded Georgia-born Armenian Rafi Khchoyan (2-2-1). Aslonov, 28, applied aggressive pressure but what was more important this pressure was also smart. Aslonov’s jab was pinning Khchoyan to the needed direction, where Aslonov applied power right hands to trouble his opponent. Khchoyan was beaten to the punch in rounds five, six and seven, and refused to come out of his corner for the eighth and final round.
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Light middleweight Bobo-Usmon Baturov, 2020 Olympian for Uzbekistan, improved his record to 3-0-1, still no KOs, with a hard-fought unanimous decision over tough journeyman Tikhion Netesov (11-6, 3 KOs) over eight rounds. Scoresweren’t announced but BoxingScene had it 78-75 – for the Uzbek.
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Cruiserweight Georgiy Chigladze (1-0) kicked off his prizefighting career with a workmanlike unanimous four-round decision over veteran fighter Igor Vilchitskiy (7-9, 1 KO). Vilchitskiy made it hard for the prospect.
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Heavyweight Georgiy Yunovidov (9-1, 6 KOs) opened a huge 14-fight long card in Ekaterinburg, Russia, with a sixth-round stoppage of Uzbek import Mirzohidjon Abdullaev (now 3-3-1, 1 KO). Yunovidov, who sported both Armenian and Russian flags on his trunks, didn’t look better than his out-of-shape opponent in the first two rounds but slowly grabbed control of the fight. Being visibly overweight, he showed good skills but ran out of gas by the third. He lasted till the sixth, when Yunovidov pinned him to the ropes and forced a stoppage at 1:11 of the round.