Bakhodir Jalolov enjoyed a successful Top Rank debut.
Sort of.
The 2020 Olympic Gold medalist for Uzbekistan was emphatic and brief in his destruction of Onoriode Ehwarieme, whom he stopped in the first round. Three knockdowns forced the stoppage at 2:06 of round one in the curtain raiser Saturday evening at Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Jalolov was due to appear as part of an originally planned ESPN-televised heavyweight tripleheader, as assigned shortly after he signed with Top Rank earlier this summer. His contract situation, however, remains problematic given the dissolution of Probellum and which of their prior fighters are now the property of obscure promotional upstart.
The legal issues limited viewership for his first fight of 2023 to a solo feed on Top Rank’s YouTube channel.
Jalolov made his presence felt early versus the made-to-order and very knockoutable Ehwarieme (20-3, 19KOs). A left hand sent the Nigerian crashing to the canvas barely a minute into the contest.
Ehwairieme was back down moments later as Jalolov continued on the attack. A third knockdown prompted an immediate stoppage and with plenty of room for Jalolov to return before the end of the year.
Jalolov improved to 13-0 (13KOs) with the win and picked up his sixth career first round knockout. He has yet to be extended beyond the eighth round, which came two fights ago last June. Saturday was his first bout since a fourth-round knockout of Curtis Harper last November 26 in Carson, California.
The signing of Jalolov complemented a Top Rank heavyweight stable that also includes his amateur rival Richard Torrez Jr. (6-0, 6KOs). Jalolov knocked out Torrez in 2019 en route to the World Amateur Championships and outpointed the California native in the Gold medal round of the delayed 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
The YouTube-streamed bout preceded a full Top Rank show to air on ESPN+ and then later on ESPN headlined by a Jared Anderson-Andrii Rudenko heavyweight bout.
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for krikya360.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox