Ekaterinburg, Russia - TBRB #8 light middleweight (presently unranked by major sanctioning bodies as all Russia-based Russian boxers are) Magomed Kurbanov improved his record to solid 24-0, 13 KOs, with a strong unanimous decision over WBA #3 Venezuelan power-puncher Johan Gonzalez in a hard-fought ten-rounder.

Gonzalez was slow but intimidating with a record of 31 wins and just a single loss before the fight; all of his victories coming before the bell. Kurbanov smartly chose not to engage but to stay on the outskirts, looking for spots and applying his underrated timing to hold off the Panama-based Venezuelan.

Not that Gonzalez, 31, didn't have any success. He did, but it was limited and didn't endanger Kurbanov's positions. More troublesome for the Black Lion was his own less-than-average punch output and over-defensive stance at times. But Gonzalez was too slow and too raw to corner Kurbanov, who showed some degree of elusiveness. When he opened up - mostly during the second half of the fight - the Russian was able to land combinations, which were unable to move the Venezuelan but were eye-catching and also made up for periods of inactivity.

By the closing rounds, Gonzalez slowed down enough to become a stationary target, but a measured Kurbanov chose not to press for a stoppage and relied mostly on his boxing skills, while the Venezuelan's swings were too wide to give him any chance even for the kayo victory. Nevertheless, there were moments of engagement, and local crowd was not disappointed.

The final scores were: 97-93 - by all three judges. Another nice win for Kurbanov, 27, who is ready for a real challenge.