April 24, 2015

Cruiserweight Usyk stops Russian challenger for WBO title

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WBO Intercontinental Title champion Oleksander Usyk sports a title belt after winning against Andrey Knyazev of Russia at the Sports Palace in Kyiv on April 18.

PARSIPPANY, N.J. – Cruiserweight Oleksander Usyk (7-0-0, 7 KO) of Symferopol in Crimea, Ukraine, won by eighth-round (out of 10) TKO against Andrey Knyazev (11-2-0, 6 KO) of Russia on April 18 at the Sports Palace in Kyiv. Referee Mickey Vann stopped the fight after the 29-year-old Knyazev showed no more fight left in him after seven rounds of punishment from Usyk.

Most of the damage from Usyk came in the fourth round with heavy exchanges landed by the Ukrainian in front of the home crowd. Knyazev’s nose began to bleed more profusely after the fifth round, with Usyk landing lefts and rights at will. By the sixth round, Knyazev was covering up more than throwing punches, and at times, Usyk stepped back and let the Russian tire himself out, while peppering him with right jabs and right hooks. During the seventh round, Knyazev didn’t look like he wanted to be in the ring anymore, ducking and flinching, trying to avoid Usyk’s blows. The stoppage came with 37 seconds left in the eighth round, after Usyk tied up Knyazev on the ropes and there was no response from Knyazev after a strong attack by Usyk.

In defense of the WBO Intercontinental Title, Usyk’s WBO-sanctioned fight saw No.3-ranked (and undefeated) Usyk take one step closer to a title fight against WBO cruiserweight champion Marco Huck (38-2-1, 26 KO) of Germany. Huck is scheduled to defend his title against Krysztof Glowacki (24-0, 15 KO) of Poland on June 12 in Chicago.

Also that night in Kyiv, super middleweight Maxim Bursak (31-3-1, 14 KO) won by first-round TKO (out of eight) against Chris Herrmann (19-6-1, 10 KO) of Germany; super lightweight Mishiko Beselia (10-0-0, 7 KO) won by fifth-round TKO (out of eight) against Georgian Anzor Gagebeli (20-9-3, 8 KO); featherweight Oleg Malinovsky (15-0-0, 5 KO) won by fourth-round KO (out of eight) against Oszkar Fiko (11-11-0, 9 KO) of Romania; cruiserweight Serhiy Radchenko (2-0-0, 1 KO) won by unanimous decision after four rounds (out of four) against fellow countryman Roman Mirzoev (2-11-0, 1 KO), with judges scoring 40-35, 40-35, 40-35; super lightweight Aram Faniyan (3-0-0, 0 KO) won by unanimous decision after four rounds (out of four) against fellow countryman Yevheniy Kondratenko (0-5-0, 0 KO); and super middleweight Petr Ivanov (3-0-0, 1 KO) also won by unanimous decision against countryman Sergiy Shevchuk (0-1-0, 0 KO).

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