April 29 could possibly mark sweet revenge for former WBA super middleweight champion Fedor Chudinov. Chudinov (25-2-1, 17 KOs) is set to face Azizbek Abdugofurov (13-1, 5 KOs) of Uzbekistan, who had beaten his elder brother Dmitry Chudinov to a wide unanimous decision almost four years ago in Tashkent. The fight takes place at the Vegas City Hall on the western outskirts of Moscow.
Abdugofurov, now 30, decisioned Dmitry Chudinov on May 5, 2018, with the scores 118-110, 118-110, and 118-111. Though Chudinov (21-2-2 at the time) had already been sliding a bit with a loss to 45-year-old Lolenga Mock just four months before that, a win over the Russian rates as one of the finest in the Uzbek’s resume, alongside his points victory over 94-2 former two-division champion Sirimongkol Singwancha.
The loss to Abdugofurov kicked of an unlucky series of setbacks for the former WBA interim middleweight beltholder, who is now 21-7-3 and winless for over four years. Meanwhile, the Uzbek fighter continued his winning streak at a higher 168lb weight class for three more years before losing one-sidedly to red hot Russian super middleweight prospect Pavel Silyagin in February 2021, his only loss to date.
Silyagin is a solid technician with fluid moves, switch-hitting ability and overall elusiveness packed with a huge yet rarely displayed punch. Fedor Chudinov, 34, is a different type of fighter. He is unafraid of several taken punches for a share of punishment he can dish out. Not a magnificent stylist, Chudinov is durable, hard-hitting, determined and resilient. Those qualities aided Fedor in his greatest career victory – a road decision over German Felix Sturm in May 2015 for a vacant WBA super middleweight crown, a title he had defended once against Frank Buglioni before losing it on a questionable decision to the very same Sturm in 2016.
The Russian is 11-0-1, 7 KOs, since losing to George Groves on a TKO in May 2017. His only official blemish during this period is a draw against Malawian trickster Isaac Chilemba in February 2021, although he had also been on a right side of a controversial split decision over Nadjib Mohammedi during the same period. In his latest fight, the Russian stopped Ronny Mittag of Germany in two rounds. Chudinov is rated #12 by the WBC and he was also ranked #2 by the WBA, when the World Boxing Association imposed its sanctions onto the Russian fighters in March (position is void in the present WBA rankings).
Chudinov vs. Abdugofurov headlines an event, staged by famous Russian promoter Vladimir Hryunov. Former amateur heavyweight standout Maxim Babanin (3-0, 3 KOs) will be featured in the undercard.