Although pushed to the brink of defeat Friday night in Houston, Andreas Katzourakis won a majority decision over Kudratillo Abdukakhorov to advance to the next round of the OTX junior middleweight tournament.
Judges scored the bout 98-92, 96-94 and 95-95 for Katzourakis.
The fight served as the main event of OTX 7 and a quarterfinals matchup in the 154-pound tournament at Red Owl Boxing Arena. With the win, Katzourakis advanced to the semifinals to face Robert Terry, who won earlier in the evening in the co-main event.
About his potential matchup with Terry, Katzourakis said, “He has a nice boxing ability. I think it is going to be an easier fight than Abdukakhorov.”
Katzourakis (13-0, 10 KOs), originally from Athens, Greece, now trains in Houston. Touted as one of the stars of OTX Boxing, he arrived to cheers and Greek flags waving in the arena crowd. By contrast, Abdukakhorov (20-3, 12 KOs), from Uzbekistan, entered as an underdog with little fanfare. Despite Katzourakis’ passionate following, local fans saw a difficult fight emerge for their favored fighter.
Abdukakhorov was an unwilling stepping stone, and nearly dropped Katzourakis in the second round when Katzourakis did a full squat but didn’t touch the canvas. Abdukakhorov's strategic punching and calculated attack troubled Katzourakis, who employed a come-forward approach. At the same time, Katzourakis also seemed willing to let his opponent’s punches land, perhaps due to their lack of power.
“I don’t know if he was better than I expected or if it was harder for me to connect with some punches,” said Katzourakis after the fight.
In a previous bout, at welterweight, Abdukakhorov had faded against pressure fighter Cody Crowley. By the fifth round, fans were excited as Katzourakis found his rhythm and looked confident, throwing fluid, hard combinations and changing Abdukakhorov’s demeanor. Abdukakhorov's punches lacked the ferocity they had early on. Katzourakis appeared to be breaking down the Uzbek fighter, but in the seventh round, Abdukakhorov displayed another fluid round of boxing, preventing Katzourakis from landing big shots and casting some doubt.
Abdukakhorov looked tired as Katzourakis, with blood over his left eye, chased him until the final bell.
After the decision, Abdukakhorov looked dejected about what he seemed to perceive as a win. He had every reason to be put off by the 98-92 score, which didn’t reflect the close nature of the bout.