Muslim Gadzhimagomedov continued his impressive professional winning streak, successfully managing his WBA-sanctioned main event at the International Boxing Center, Moscow, which concluded another fantastic IBA Champions’ Night.x

Gadzhimagomedov made it six wins from six, defeating South Africa’s Thabiso Mchunu after 10 full rounds of action by a unanimous decision – 100:90, 100:90, 100:91. The Russian was dynamic throughout, never looking in doubt for the victory. He managed to slowly pick away at Mchunu, having the reach and height advantage that helped him get the necessary points on his way to the victory.

According to Muslim, who also holds the WBA Bridgerweight title, he thought he could end the contest after eight rounds – which shows the resilience of Mchunu to go the distance, despite the result.

‘I felt comfortable in the ring, with my advantage in footwork and speed. I controlled the fight from first until the last seconds, in some moments I felt I could finish him, but I decided not to take a risk. I aimed to work hard in the ring and show good quality of boxing,’ Gadzhimagomedov said.

‘I am capable of doing more, my goal now is to unify titles and get more and more competitive fights. I hope to get my chance to do so. Another goal of mine is the IBA Men’s World Boxing Championships this year, and I start my preparation after three days rest,’ he added.

Artem Suslenkov of Russia defeated Jack Mulowayi of Belgium for the IBF European Heavyweight Championship after a terrific battle between the two giants. Mulowayi had some early success and packed a punch with great force behind it, but the Russian had the quicker and more frequent offense. Suslenkov had his moment at the end of the third round, cornering the Belgian sufficiently and dealing the onslaught punishment.

Mulowayi slowly found his way into the bout and worked very hard, particularly in the middle of the contest, and was the fresher of the pair at the end of the 10 rounds. Credit went to Suslenkov who endured fatigue to get to the end when the momentum was coming back against him. With one judge tying on scores and the two others favoring the Russian, Suslenkov won by a majority decision.

Uzbekistan’s Saidjamshid Jafarov edged out the home favorite Dmitry Zakharov in the 71kg division, having his arm raised via split decision. In their 6-round contest, the pair threw caution to the wind in a lively battle, expending their energy at a ferocious pace.

Perhaps the best strike of the contest came from Zakharov near the end of the fifth round after Jafarov ducked out the way of a blow, only to be met with a right hook to the head instead. Many rounds were difficult to call, but the Uzbek enjoyed more consistent success, which paid off in the end.

It was third time lucky for Spain’s Samuel Carmona, who won his first IBA-sanctioned professional contest to win the IBA European Flyweight title against Artur Nagapetyan from Russia.

Carmona was extremely clever and agile, able to sit on the back foot for portions and still get the better of his opponent, who looked secondary – particularly in the final rounds where the Spaniard put the pressure on the Russian to seal the victory. Carmona’s technical ability and accuracy, with power to weight ratio was quite simply tremendous.

An abrupt end to the women’s Super Flyweight match saw Kazakhstan’s Angelina Lukas be deemed the winner by TKO at the start of the fourth round, as the Nigerian corner representing Ayisat Oriyomi threw in the towel. Oriyomi had a strong third round which put the Kazakh in a bit of jeopardy, but the African’s corner was hesitant to send their boxer back out.

Ruslan Belousov remained undefeated in the 57kg division, beating Filipino fighter Gabriel Santisima over six rounds. It took the Russian’s professional record to 5-0, looking firmly in control throughout.

In the opening contest of the evening, a tight contest went the way of Tamerlan Ozdoev in the 63.5kg weight division, defeating Mouhamed Oumarou of Cameroon by a split decision. The Russian was looking on his way to a comfortable win, with the opening rounds looking more in his favor, but Oumarou was the better boxer in the second half of the bout. It was a difficult one to call, but Ozdoev would get the nod.

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Media contacts:

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

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