Russia Knocked Out to Lose Last Title
Russia lost the last title in professional boxing yesterday. IBF bantamweight defending champion Dmitry Kirillov lost to Vic Darchinyan, the Armenian famous boxer standing for Australia. Darchinyan knocked out Kirillov in the fifth round to claim the title.
The bout of Dmitry Kirillov in Tacoma, Washington, continued the losing series of Russia’s boxers in 2008. We had had three belts early this year, but WBO heavyweight Sultan Ibragimov lost to Ukrainian Wladimir Klitschko February 23 and WBC king Oleg Maskaev was defeated by Nigerian Samuel Peter March 8.
In the interval between those two fights, bantamweight Dmitry Kirillov defended the title in the draw bout vs Cecilio Santos, but only to be dethroned in half a year by the famous puncher. And the yesterday’s loss of the Russian wasn’t questionable.
Landing one bone-crunching left hand after another, Darchinyan won the first round and was better at the second one. He accelerated in the third round, producing the series of dozen of blows, half of them reaching the aim. The left-handed challenger was faster than the champ, always taking the most advantageous position.
The fourth round created an illusion that Kirillov would finally recover, but it was just a break for Darchinyan. In the fifth round, the referee recorded the first knockout in Kirillov’s career. At the same time, he recorded the loss of Russia’s last title in professional boxing.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of Aug. 04, 2008
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