Fiodor Czerkaszyn Batters Elias Espadas, Stops Him In 9th Round On Davis-Garcia Undercard

LAS VEGAS – Fiodor Czerkaszyn slowly but surely broke down Elias Espadas on Saturday.

The Polish middleweight contender battered the Mexican veteran during the final few rounds of their scheduled 10-round bout at T-Mobile Arena. Referee Mike Ortega eventually thought Espadas had taken too much punishment and halted the action 2:07 into the ninth round on the Gervonta Davis-Ryan Garcia undercard.

Czerkaszyn, of Warsaw, Poland, upped his record to 22-0 and produced his 14th knockout. Espadas (22-6, 15 KOs), who was on his feet when Ortega intervened, and his team complained about the stoppage.

Espadas has been stopped in back-to-back bouts. Before Czerkaszyn beat him, emerging junior middleweight contender Xander Zayas (15-0, 10 KOs) beat him by fifth-round technical knockout August 13 at Resorts World Las Vegas.

A right hand by Czerkaszyn seemed to hurt Espadas with about a minute remaining in the ninth round. Czerkaszyn then landed a left to Espadas’ body, which prompted Ortega to step between them and stop the bout.

Czerkaszyn connected with a right hand that moved Espadas backward with just under a minute to go in the eighth round. Czerkaszyn’s right hand backed Espadas into the ropes about 15 seconds into the eighth round.

Czerkaszyn landed a right hand and then a left uppercut that made Espadas stumble into the ropes just before the seventh round ended. Czerkaszyn caught Espadas with a right hand when there was just over 40 seconds on the clock in the seventh round.

Espadas blasted Czerkaszyn with a right hand in an exchange that occurred with about 30 seconds to go in the sixth round.

Czerkaszyn sensed Espadas was fading and attacked him as soon as the fifth round began. He landed to Espadas’ head and body, but Espadas survived his onslaught.

Czerkaszyn’s left hook to the body hurt Espadas in the fourth round and made him hold to try to recover.

A left hook by Czerkaszyn made Espadas hold him about 20 seconds into the third round. Espadas’ right hand backed up Czerkaszyn less than 20 seconds later.

Czerkaszyn and Espadas traded right hands just before the second round ended. Ortega warned Czerkaszyn for hitting Espadas behind his head just before the midway mark of the second round.

A right hand by Espadas backed up Czerkaszyn with just under 20 seconds to go in the first round. Espadas connected with a right hand about 1:20 into the first round.

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for krikya360.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.