By Dmitry Mikhalchuk (at ringside) / Alexey Sukachev.
Alex Khanas of Fight Promotions Inc. staged a nice-packed little show at the Circus in Kryviy Rih, Ukraine, deeply filled with amateur talent and some more recognizable names, which ended just moments ago.
In the main event, rising middleweight star Ievgen Khytrov (12-0, 11 KOs) produced a very strong candidate for knockout of 2015, when he almost beheaded American import Josh Luteran (14-3, 9 KOs) in round two with a scary right hook to the jaw. Luteran, 30, went down face-first being unconscious even before he hit the canvas. He was down for several frightening minutes before regaining consiousness.
The fight was a gross mismatch, as Khytrov, 27, is not only a prospect on a rise but also a part of the extremely talented 2011/2012 Ukrainian amateur gold squad. Luteran, 30, meanwhile, was fighting just for the second time in two weeks following three years off the ring since his loss to Daniel Jacobs in 2012.
Nevertheless, Khytrov, who winged freely from the starters, acquired his first minor belts - the vacant WBC USNBC and NABF middleweight titles. Time of stoppage was 1:55 of the second round. It was Khytrov's fifth win of 2015.
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Once a blue-chip light heavyweight prospect and now just another fringe contender with somewhat foggy future, former WBO title challenger and amateur star Ismayl Sillakh (23-2, 18 KOs) scored his second win since his 2013 crushing loss to Sergey Kovalev. Sillakh dropped Georgian import George Tevdorashvili (22-15-3, 14 KOs) with a left half-uppercut - for the full count in round one.
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Ukrainian heavyweight Andrey Rudenko (27-2, 18 KOs) continued his recent winning streak with a dominating stoppage of German fading journeyman Konstantin Airich (22-14-2, 18 KOs). Airich was rocked badly in the second round, then was issued a standing eight after several well-placed shots in the fifth. He chose not to be beaten anymore and withdrew from the fight soon therefafter. He is just 3-10 since his biggest career win - a stoppage of Ondrej Pala in March 2012.
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Former Kazakh amateur hopeful Aidos Yerbossynuly (2-0, 2 KOs) briefly toyed with the risk of an upset loss against Ukrainian debutant Denis Podnebesniy (0-1) in round one, when he went down on a long left uppercut, before coming back strong to stop his opponent in four rounds. Podnebesniy was being hit with everything but a kitchen sink but couragely took his share of punishment. He never went down but his corner stopped a one-sided beating in round four.
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In a colossal upset, little-known middleweight trialhorse Sergiy Shevchuk (1-2, 1 KOs) has knocked out one of the finest Moldovan amateur fighters Piotr Ceobanu (1-1), 2013 European bronze medalist. Ceobanu started extremely aggressively trying to bully a fighter with zero wins in two contests. And he paid an ultimate price, as Shevchuk landed his right bomb first in a brutal right hook / right hook exchange in round one. Ceobanu went down hard and was unable to get a fully upright position at the count of ten.
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Featherweight Pavel Ischenko (2-0, 2 KOs), who was a part the stellar 2012 Ukrainian Olympic team, made a very short work of vastly overmatched Belarussian Dmitry Agafonov (8-6, 2 KOs) by stopping him in 65 seconds. Agafonov was down after several body shots, got up but showed no will to continue. It was his sixth straight loss after getting eight wins at home against fighters with a combined record of 0-2. Ischenko, 23, made his debut on Sep. 18 in the States, also with a stoppage win.
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Another amateur standout Denys Lazarev (3-0, 1 KOs) demolished no-hoper Bogdan Bondarenko (1-11, 1 KO) within five minutes. Bondarenko was dropped with a straight right hand in the second, and then against with a right cross / left hook combo. Referee stopped the contest immediately after the second knockdown at 1:55.