By Alexey Sukachev
The sweetest part of perfect revenge is overcoming, and that was exactly what Dmitry Kudryshov has done in his second fight against Nigerian Olanrewaju Durodola in order to satisfy his personal vendetta. Rocked not once but numerous times, the Russian bomber stopped his opponent within five rounds of high-octane action.
The first fight was a year and a half ago, but the memories of it still hurt one participant, and warmed the heart of another.
In November 2015, a prohibitive favorite in Kudryashov started fast only to be stopped by Durodola in round two, gassing himself out in less than a couple of rounds. Since then, Kudryashov got two knockout wins, while Durodola was stopped in another frenetic contest by future WBC champion Mairis Briedis, and won three times (all by stoppages) after that.
Kudryashov, who has never heard a final bell in any of his fights, started aggressively while Durodola kept himself on the defensive. Kudryashov's punches were hard but the Nigerian took them well. As the opening stanza progressed, Durodola mounted a slight comeback landing some heavy bombs of his own.
In round two, there were many clinches, and Durodola did slightly better inside than the Russian. Kudryashov answered with some heavy body shots but once again Durodola was seemingly immovable. The third was a major turn in the fight, as Durodola got more aggressive, punishing Kudryashov in closequarters, specifically while coming out of the clinch. Rocked several times and seemingly gassed, Kudryashov nevertheless found some inner strength not only to last till the bell but to land a thunderous left bomb which saw Durodola's mouthpiece make a record-breaking flight somewhere to the backseats of the arena.
It looked like Kudryashov might have been done during the third but instead there was an entirely new man in the ring once the bell for round four rang.
Kudryashov was again the master, while Durodola soon found himself on the defensive again. The Russian's punches kept landing, and finally a major left hook to the temple dropped the Nigerian with a minute to go. Durodola was still wobbly when the count ended but referee Guadalapue Garcia allowed him to continue. He clinched and covered himself until the bell. It was enough to give him a break but not enough to prevent more punishment.
Kudryashov continued to drill his opponent in the fifth, finally putting him down on the combination of punches. Durodola once again made it to the upright position but soon thereafter another left hook wobbled him, and the referee waved the fight off at 2:43 of the fifth.
WBC #1 (and also IBF #5 and WBO #10) Kudryashov thus improved his record to 21-1, 21 KOs, and retained his WBC Silver belt. Durodola, ranked #2 by the WBC and #6 by the WBO, drops down to 25-4, 23 KOs.
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Sometimes experience isn't enough. Bantamweight Vyacheslav Mirzaev (9-0, 1 KO), a relatively new addition to pro game, delivered a boxing lesson to much more experienced Frenchman Anthony Settoul (22-6, 8 KOs) over ten rounds and retained his WBC international 118lb title in process.
Mirzaev, 28, the smaller but faster of the two, chose the right tactics by moving outside, boxing with his hands down, relying on quick, aggressive outbursts rather than forced pressure or slugging. Mirzaev toyed with his opponent, taking next-to-none while peppering him with quick combinations and jabs. Settoul was slow and was unable to cope with Mirzaev's speed. He tried to engage the Russian into a slugfest but failed, eating even more. Final scores were: 99-90, 99-91, and 98-91 - all for Mirzaev.
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Geard Ajetovic of Serbia is a new WBC CIS and Slovenian Boxing Bureau super middleweight titlist, following a dominant win over local favorite Khaybulla Madzhidov (9-9, 5 KOs) in a heated ten-rounder.
Ajetovic, 36 and much more experienced than his foe, utilized his usual style, moving much and fighting behind a tight shell-like guard. Madzhidov, aggressive but limited, was unable to break into the Serb's defense, eating punches in return every time he applied a bit more pressure. Ajetovic was not only sharp but also powerful, dropping Madzhidov in the corner with a right hand / left hook combination. Scores were: 38-37, 40-35, 40-35 - for Ajetovic after five rounds.
Madzhidov did his best to match Ajetovic's experience but that clearly wasn't enough, as the Serbian just toyed with a bigger puncher. adzhidov did have some success in the second half of the fight but was unable to even the bout. Scores were: 76-75, 78-74 and 78-74 - after eight rounds, and finally: 95-94, 97-92 and 97-92 - for Geard Ajetovic after the final bel. Ajetovic improves to 30-15-1, 15 KOs. He has never been stopped in his career and has sound wins over such fighters as 30-3 Vyacheslav Uzelkov, 26-3-1 Rober Roselia, 29-2 Jackson Chanet and 17-3 Christian Pawlak in his past.
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Hard-hitting but fragile Russian light heavyweight Gasan Gasanov (13-5-1, 11 KOs) was in tip-top shape this night, which resulted in a quick demolition of Samara's Egor "The Maniac" Bakulin (11-3-2, 3 KOs). Bakulin, 21, was down after a right hook / left uppercut combo by Gasanov, then went down twice after two more uppercuts by the aggressive Gasanov. The fight was stopped at 2:37 of the very first round after the third knockdown.
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Heavyweight Andrey Afonin (3-0, 2 KOs), promoted by the World of Boxing, went the distance for the first time in his career, dominating Czech Vaclav Pejsar but being unable to stop him inside the distance, getting a unanimous decision instead. BoxingScene scored it 60-54 - for Afonin. Pejsar is now 11-5, 9 KOs.
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Cruiserweight Alexander Kubich (9-5, 6 KOs) suffered his fifth consecutive loss, being defeated unanimously over six rounds by former amateur standout Alexey Egorov (2-0, 1 KO). Kubich was game and tough but against talented and refined Egorov his skills were clearly not enough to give him any chances. Still Kubich was never down in the fight and went the distance, despite losing conclusively in each round. Egorov is promoted by the World of Boxing.
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In a battle of two journeymen, Krasnodar's Evgueny Smelov (3-3, 2 KOs) got the better of his fellow townsman Ivan Skripachev (2-4-1, 2 KOs) with a split decision over six rounds.
Kantemir Kalazhokov (2-2) from Nalchik decisioned Alisher Ashurov (2-13) of Saint Petersburg over six rounds with a unanimous decision.
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