MINNEAPOLIS – Fiodor Czerkaszyn was more than ready for his step up in competition Saturday night at The Armory.
The Ukrainian-born Polish middleweight showed some skill, particularly when he fought at a distance, out-worked veteran Nathaniel Gallimore and won his debut on American television by unanimous decision. Czerkaszyn impressed judges Mark Calo-oy (99-91), Mike Fitzgerald (100-90) and Patrick Morley (97-93) enough to win by large margins on each of their scorecards.
Czerkaszyn also took the hard-hitting Gallimore’s power well while he remained undefeated (21-0, 13 KOs).
The 26-year-old Czerkaszyn moved from Warsaw to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where he trains, in April to try to establish himself in boxing in the United States. Czerkaszyn’s win was the first fight Showtime televised as part of the David Morrell Jr.-Aidos Yerbossynuly undercard.
The 34-year-old Gallimore (22-6-1, 17 KOs), of Des Plaines, Illinois, ended a 16-month layoff when he encountered Czerkaszyn. Prior to Saturday night, Gallimore hadn’t boxed since he defeated previously unbeaten Leon Lawson III (then 14-0) by majority decision in a 10-rounder in June 2021 at The Armory.
Gallimore is 2-5 in his past seven bouts, but the four defeats he suffered before Czerkaszyn beat him came against former IBF/IBO/WBA 154-pound champion Julian Williams, former WBO junior middleweight champ Patrick Teixeira, contender Erickson Lubin and WBC interim super welterweight champ Sebastian Fundora.
Well aware that he was well behind on the cards entering the 10th round, Gallimore was aggressive and tried to land fight-changing punches early in that final round. Czerkaszyn handled Gallimore’s pressure well and remained busy for much of that round to secure his victory.
Czerkaszyn’s right hand landed in an exchange with 25 seconds on the clock in the ninth round.
Czerkaszyn caught Gallimore with several right uppercuts just after the halfway mark of the ninth round. Gallimore landed an effective right hand before that sequence.
A right hand by Czerkaszyn caught Gallimore with about 1:25 to go in the eighth round. A right-left combination by Czerkaszyn rocked Gallimore barely 30 seconds into the eighth round.
Czerkaszyn and Gallimore wrestled before falling in between the ropes a few seconds prior to the conclusion of a largely ugly seventh round. About 50 seconds into the seventh round, Gallimore landed a right hand from long range.
Czerkaszyn backed Gallimore into the ropes and landed a right hand toward the end of the sixth round. Czerkaszyn cracked Gallimore with a right uppercut just after the halfway point of the sixth round.
Czerkaszyn caught Gallimore with a right hand during an exchange just after the midway mark of the fifth round. He caught Gallimore with a right uppercut about 25 seconds later, which got the crowd’s attention.
Czerkaszyn and Gallimore exchanged in the center of the ring with just over a minute remaining in the fourth round. Czerkaszyn then drilled Gallimore with a right hand that snapped his head back with just under 55 seconds to go in the fourth.
Gallimore landed a right hand about 1:05 into the fourth round, which caused Czerkaszyn to hold him.
Gallimore countered Czerkaszyn with a right hand and spun out of Czerkaszyn’s punching range with just under 10 seconds to go in the third round.
A right uppercut by Gallimore made Czerkaszyn hold him with just over 1:20 on the clock in the third round. Gallimore attacked Czerkaszyn as soon as the third round started, but Czerkaszyn caught him with a left to the body about 30 seconds into it.
The taller, rangier Czerkaszyn continued to find his range with his jab during the second round. Gallimore remained on his back foot for most of the second round, and he didn’t mount much offense.
Czerkaszyn connected with two right hands just before the midway mark of the first round, but neither shot affected Gallimore. Czerkaszyn’s right hand landed about 30 seconds into the opening round.
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for krikya360.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.