WBA bridgerweight champion Muslim Gadzhimagomedov (5-0) retained the title last night in Ufa (Russia) on an IBA Champions Night promotion with a unanimous decision over German challenger Leon Harth (22-6-1). The judges all had it 120-108 in favor of the champion.
Lightweight Albert Batyrgaziev (11-0 as a ‘pro’, retained the IBA Pro World title and stopped Albert Pagara (35-1 in the pros) from the Philippines in the fifth round of a scheduled 10-rounder.
Why do pro fighters opt to fight for unrecognized semi-pro world titles? There are many reasons for this and they all spell money. Outside of Riyadh Season, IBA is probably paying more than anyone else.
Junior lightweight Artur Sukhankulov (7-0) outscored Chinese Wensong Liu (11-4-1) over 10 and won something called the WBA Asian title. Sukhankulov is also the IBA Pro European champion.
Namibian Immanuel Josef (16-4-1) beat Russian "debutant" Vasiliy Egorov on a technical decision. Egorov was unable to continue after a clash of heads in the seventh and it went to the scorecards. Josef won the vacant WBA Asia flyweight title.
The IBA roadshow is in Vienna (Austria) tomorrow Saturday, October 19. The Austrian pro federation, FvA, are not involved in this event.