Cuba’s Arlen Lopez defended his IBA Pro 80kg World Champion title at IBA Champions’ Night Dubai, managing to knock out the plucky Nikita Zon in the final moments of their match at the Agenda Arena.

The two-time Olympic champion was set to face another Russian Sharabutdin Ataev for the belt, but his opponent fell ill, meaning Zon was a later replacement who fancied his chances of winning and refused to admit he was the underdog when asked at the press conference.

The Cuban stood his ground well and had control of the contest in the early rounds, living up to his expectations as the favorite. Zon looked the busier boxer but was not efficiently landing like Lopez was. When Lopez took more of a front-foot stance, he was strong and quickly racked up the rounds in his favor.

But passivity threatened an undoing for Lopez, who looked shocked by Zon’s resurgence in the sixth round and would be on the receiving end of a corkscrew uppercut in the seventh. Another great left came from Zon in the eighth, but he was resilient and returned the punch. Round nine started with a great left from Zon, but just as momentum seemed to be with the Russian and an upset looked on the cards, it was quickly sapped just seconds later. A great right blow from Lopez dropped Zon to the floor and he faced a count from the referee. With both boxers looking to end on a high note, Lopez landed a great left hook to drop the Russian again and once he got back to his feet was able to drop him a third time. One more heavy blow knocked Zon into the ropes and the bout was ruled a knockout just seconds from the end of the 10-round contest as Lopez directed words towards Zon’s corner in his celebration.

Venezuela’s Yoel Finol won the tightest contest of the evening, beating Shakhobidin Zoirov of Uzbekistan by a majority decision to win the IBA Pro 54kg World Champion title.

Zoirov opened in a strong, ferocious manner and Finol had to respond in the second round to make sure his opponent knew of his abilities. Both had fought several times over three rounds but would face the uncharted 10-round territory between each other for the first time. The familiar swagger of Finol returned in round three who looked confident by the bell.

It was a clash of styles, with Zoirov more compact with less movement, while Finol was keener to shake and shimmy, moving around the ring more and throwing his hands in longer combinations. In the eighth round, Zoirov looked to have the momentum in his favor as the Venezuelan started to tire while trying to defend himself with a swollen eye. It was an uphill battle after a strong start for Finol and he had to impress in the final round to win. He was dogged and his hard work seemed to pay off, with one judge calling a draw and the other two scoring 96-94 in favor of Finol.

The Philippines’ Weljon Mindoro continued to live up to his “knockout artist” reputation with a fourth-round stoppage against Joel Camilleri of Australia to become the IBA Pro Asian 75kg Champion.

A beautiful left shot from Camilleri hit Mindoro flush in the face in the second round, and the Filipino responded with a sweet right uppercut into Camilleri’s corner in the third round. Despite that early setback, the Australian was composed and landed several lovely blows while leaning against the ropes to end the third in good stead.

But Mindoro came back again and caused a standing count against Camilleri. The Australian faced a torrent of offense and walked onto a right uppercut to face another count. Still trying to battle his way to the end of the fourth round in a bid to regain composure, he was facing more and more punishment to the point where his corner threw the towel in. Mindoro celebrated with a backflip in elation, while Camilleri, who until the fourth round had looked the better boxer, looked bemused by how quickly his fortune had changed. Legendary Filippino boxer Manny Pacquiao entered the ring to congratulate the compatriot and put the champion’s belt around his waist.

Jose Quiles from Spain became the IBA Pro European 60kg Champion a year after making his IBA Champions’ Night debut in Dubai. It was third time lucky for him as he defeated Ardit Murja of Albania to claim victory for the first time in the event after previous losses to Sofiane Ouimha and Javier Ibañez. The highlight was a lovely left hand from Quiles rocked Murja in the sixth round and the Spaniard would go on the attack to ensure another round win.

Democratic Republic of Congo’s Patrick Mukala defeated Paulinus Ndjolonimu of Namibia in quick fashion to be named the IBA Pro African 80kg Champion. From the first bell, Mukala was in charge against his much taller opponent. Ndjolonimu improved early in the fourth round, providing a challenge to Mukala, but as the fifth round started, Mukala looked hungry to end the contest – landing the perfect right hook that the Namibian could not respond to. He hit the canvas and the match ended by knockout.

Giorgi Kushitashvili defeated Artush Hovhannisyan in the 86kg division. The Georgian was proficient throughout, landing crisper punches than his Armenian opponent, who tired with less efficient strikes. Both boxers were struggling with the eight-round endurance contest by the final round, which led to the pace slowing down, but Kushitashvili was in control throughout.

Jose Miguel Borrego defeated Ryan Martin of the United States to become the IBA Pro American 67kg Champion. The Mexican advanced well on the front foot and had a strong end to the second round before making Martin the victim of a third-round knockdown, who beat the count after facing a hard left hook. A fantastic fourth round for both boxers would signal what to expect for the rest of the contest which was full of action but favored Borrego.

In the opening round, Puneh Akhundtabarmazandarani of Iran defeated Xenia Jorneac from Romania in the women’s 57kg division by a unanimous decision.

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Media contacts:

Elena Sobol, Head of Communications and PR, International Boxing Association: elena.sobol@iba.sport

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