Davit Chaloyan W8 Vitaly Kudukhov ... Heavyweight Davit Chaloyan was the biggest Armenian winner on th eundercard of an IBA pro show held on Friday in his native country. Chaloyan defeated Vitaly Kudukhov (7-3) of Russia by using his longer reach to his advantage, fending off the pressure and responding well to the pockets of success thsy Kudukhov managed. Kudukhov provided a spirited performance and worked hard throughout, but Chaloyan’s footwork and ability to keep his opponent at a distance helped the Armenian win by unanimous decision. Chaloyan is 2-0 as a pro but had a good amateur career, including a win over Tsotne Rogava, who is undefeated as a pro.
Khuseyn Baysangurov W10 Leonardo Sanchez ... Khuseyn Baysangurov (25-1) ended the undefeated streak of Venezuela’s Leonardo Sanchez (16-1-1) in their ten-round welterweight contest. Sanchez was victorious in 16 professional matches with one draw, while Baysangurov was aiming for his 25th victory, holding just one professional defeat. A typical Baysangurov display saw the Russian looking stoic, hardly shaken and capable of throwing punches at a ferocious pace within the opening three rounds of the contest, while the Venezuelan was finding little way to push Baysangurov backwards. That was until around the midpoint of the ten-round contest where Sanchez started to enjoy spells of aggression, determined not to make it an inevitable result, but it was in the final two rounds that Sanchez gave judges a lot to think about – coming firm on his feet and startling his opponent. By round eight, both boxers were bloodied and beaten but took the fight all the way to the final bell, where Baysangurov won by majority decision.
ADDITIONAL RESULTS
As previously reported, the main event saw Russian middleweight Pavel Sosulin get a win with a convincing performance on the IBA pro show against Carlo Bacaro in Yerevan, Armenia. Sosulin landed the defining blows of the fight in the third round, getting a
knockout with punches to the body. In the second round, he had already connected a hook to the liver that forced the Filipino to take a knee and receive a count. Although he recovered, he was not the same in the next round, in which a similar blow sent him to the canvas with no chance to recover. With the win, the 28 year-old Sosulin now has 12 wins, 5 of them by knockout, while Bacaro's record dipped to 12 wins and 1 loss.
A popular win went the way of Narek Manasyan (1-1), who surpassed Nigeria’s Austine Nnamdi (11-6) at cruiserweight, giving the Armenian his first IBA Champions’ Night triumph. Both boxers contributed to a fantastic six-round bout, peppered with moments of true drama, with difficulty shown throughout. Nnamdi pulled off moments of brilliance that would have brought a lesser athlete into a spin, but Manasyan was able to stand firm. His own highlights led to a win that caused cheers around the arena.
Gurgen Madoyan came back from an early shake to defeat Kudratillo Abdukakorov of Uzbekistan by a unanimous decision in the middleweight category. What was an even bout in the opening round turned on its head when Abdukakorov landed an overhand southpaw left to Madoyan which the Uzbek celebrated with a shimmy in the second round. The Uzbek fighter was looking strong and hungry, but equally, the Armenian was defiant when struck. The late rounds saw Madoyan pick up more points and a final round highlight consisting of copious amounts of punches sealed his victory.
Anis Chilaev representing Tajikistan was victorious against Armenia’s Karen Tonakanyan at junior welterweight. Chilaev set a precedent early for being the aggressor, finding combinations in the earlier rounds that suggested Tonakanyan would need to rally to come back from thew deficit. However, Chilaev was in control of the bout and was named the winner.
Alexandru Paraschiv silenced the home crowd after beating Ararat Harutyunyan in the welterweight division. The Moldovan victor was stronger in the opening couple of rounds and faced little issue, until Harutyunyan changed his game plan to take a more controlled stance to the delight of the crowd. When the Moldovan got on the front foot, he was still susceptible to offence from the Armenian who connected with a sweet right hook in the fifth round on the defence. Chasing a knockdown and an attempt to claw back points, Paraschiv went hard in the final round, but again was struck on the jaw by the home favorite. Little could be found between the pair and what was a tight affair.
In the opening contest of the night, Artur Bazeyan was the victor by a unanimous decision in a lively bout with Albania’s Ardit Murja in the lightweight division. The Armenian piled pressure onto his adversary, particularly in rounds four and six, looking likely to knock his opponent down, but Murja lasted the length of the fight, to his credit.
