Arslanbek Makhmudov made short work of Miljan Rovcanin in a heavyweight clash Saturday in Quebec, Canada, dropping him twice in two rounds and conclusively so the second time around.
The bout served as the co-main event of a card promoted by Eye of the Tiger and headlined by Christian Mbilli and Mark Heffron at Centre Gervais Auto.
Makhmudov (19-1, 18 KOs) sent Rovcanin (27-4, 18 KOs) flying through the ropes in the opening round, first stunning him with a left hand, then blasting him off his feet with a glancing right. The knockdown blow hit Rovcanin’s shoulder before his head but carried sufficiently immense force to lift Rovcanin into the air.
Rovcanin, 30, rather than flee from the threat, stepped right to Makhmudov and nailed him with a few shots when the action resumed.
Makhmudov was coming off his first loss – a stoppage at the heavy hands of Agit Kabayel – but showed no signs of being punch-shy, looking for the KO from the opening bell. Those ambitions paid off in the second round as another titanic right hand sent Rovcanin into the ropes on the opposite side of the ring from the site of the first-round knockdown. This time, Rovcanin failed to rise at the count of 10.
The 34-year-old Makhmudov dwarfed the smaller Rovcanin – not so much in height but in reach and bulk, and appears a likely nightmare matchup for other heavyweights even after having been stopped.
Mehmet Unal Overwhelms Rodolfo Gomez Jr.
Fighting at a catchweight of 178 pounds, Mehmet Unal became the first man to stop Rodolfo Gomez Jr., forcing a referee intervention as he unloaded on Gomez in the fourth.
Unal (10-0, 8 KOs) swarmed Gomez (14-8-3, 10 KOs) in the first round, putting him on the back foot and wobbling him for a moment. None of Gomez’s previous seven losses came by stoppage, but a knockout looked possible almost immediately.
Gomez managed a moment of fierce resistance in Round 2, staggering Unal with a crushing right hand, but he was back on the defensive quickly.
In the fourth round, Unal hurt Gomez with a left hook, sending him back into the ropes. As Unal followed up, Gomez’s legs wobbled badly in the corner and he took further punishment, though recovered quickly enough to steady somewhat and shake his head at Unal. Per the broadcast team, Gomez’s coach had a towel in his hand but retreated back to his seat. Still, a few more clean shots later, the referee intervened and stopped the fight before Gomez had left his feet.
The stoppage seemed justified, if hasty – certainly more so than it would have seemed if Mark Nelson had pulled the plug on last weekend’s undisputed heavyweight championship when Tyson Fury was stumbling from corner to corner in the ninth round. But there can be no doubt that Mehmet Unal established himself as the better man.
Wilkens Mathieu Beats Down Przemyslaw Gorgon
Wilkens Mathieu, 19, impressed against Przemyslaw Gorgon, felling him in the first round with an uppercut, twice more in Round 2 and a fourth time in Round 4 for good measure, before the referee waved off the fight a few seconds later.
Gorgon (17-13-2, 6 KOs) was unable to dissuade Mathieu (9-0, 6 KOs) from charging in fearlessly. At one point, Mathieu threw five consecutive right hands with his full weight behind them, completely unconcerned about any return fire.
Twice, in Rounds 2 and 4, Gorgon was forced to take a knee under fierce right-hand onslaughts from Mathieu. He showed admirable grit in getting up, even protesting at the end of the fight, but he was saved from himself in the end.