WBO four-time superheavyweight champ Evander Holyfield of the U.S., right, fights title holder Sultan Ibragimov of Russia at Khodynka Ice Palace in Moscow October 13, 2007. Ibragimov won with the judges scoring the fight 118-110, 117-111 and 117-111.
Photo: Yury Martyanov
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Russians Smashed Titles
The U.S. boxing profs were crushed by the Russian ones during the Moscow show staged at Khodynka Ice Palace Saturday night. Dmitry Kirillov beat Jose Navarro in the twelve-rounder super flyweight clash and grabbed the vacant IBF title. On the same day, Sultan Ibragimov defended the title of WBO heavyweight champ and overwhelmed the legend of U.S. boxing Evander Holyfield. In the next move, Ibragimov shocked the crowd by announcing that his relatives in Dagestan recommended him to quit and he would go to the homeland to talk with them.
The box show staged at Khodynka Ice Palace on Saturday was a real disappointment for the fans in the United States. To begin with, Russia's Dmitry Kirillov prevailed over U.S. Jose Navarro in the stunning twelve-round super flyweight clash for the vacant IBF title.
Left-handed Navarro dominated in the first two rounds but didn’t withstand the right hook of the Russian in round three and was sent to the canvas for a moment. But he didn’t yield then, returning to the fight in two rounds and prevailing with significant advantage in the middle of the battle.
But Kirillov was perfect in the end, always landing his left hooks and straight rights. He was dominating in round ten and the crowd saw the toe-to-toe performance in the 12th round. As a result, Kirillov was the choice of three judges, two of them scored 114-113, and one gave 116-112.
On the same day in Khodynka, WBO four-time super-heavyweight champ Evander Holyfield, 44, lost his bid for the record fifth title. The legend proved unable to withstand counter-punching of today’s champ and yielded to impetuous Sultan Ibragimov, 32, with the judges scoring the fight 117-111, 117-111 and 118-110.
Holyfield that is aiming to emerge as the second oldest heavyweight world champ after American George Foreman reached Ibragimov in the second round, came up with a series of punches in the fifth round and hit in the sixth round, but always faced the explosion response by Ibragimov. The American landed a big right hand in the 12th round but it didn’t suffice to win from the faster and tactically perfect Russian, who dominated in the fight. Holyfield has the record of 42-9-2 now, while Ibragimov improved to 22-0-1.
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All the Article in Russian as of Oct. 15, 2007
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