By Dmitry Mikhalchuk (ringside)

At municipal Palace of Sports in Kharkiv, Ukraine, local stylist Sergey “Professor” Fedchenko (27-1, 13 KOs) scored his most meaningful career victory to date by outpointing tough American champion-turned-journeyman DeMarcus “Chop-Chop” Corley (37-15-1, 22 KOs) over twelve close rounds. The scores were 120-110, 119-110 (both non-reasonable) and the more adequate 117-113 – for WBO #13 junior welterweight Fedchenko.

The fight itself wasn’t very entertaining. A better comparison would be a chess match between two careful but technically sound boxers. A majority of starting rounds were close, as neither fighter got an edge. In the sixth stanza, Corley found a room for his right hand troubling Fedchenko a bit. Rounds seven and eight were pretty even again. The home fighter got more aggressive in closing rounds and outworked his American opponent in rounds nine through eleven. The final mark, however, was in Corley’s favour who clearly took the twelfth and final stanza. There were no knockdowns and point deductions. BoxingScene scored it 116-113 – for Sergey Fedchenko.

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Olexander Spirko (11-0, 6 KOs) is the new WBC Youth light middleweight champion after an easy decision over overmatched Uzbek Abdulaziz Matazimov (12-6, 6 KOs). Scores were 99-91 (twice) and 98-91 – for Spirko, who has acquired his first ever title in this one-sided affair.

WBA #9 welterweight Victor Plotnikov (25-1, 12 KOs) continued his winning streak with a hard-fought unanimous decision over rugged Uzbek journeyman Fayzullo Akhmedov (9-10, 4 KOs). Scores were 78-4 (twice) and 80-73; the last card being too gracious for a local favorite. Akhmedov was very game and fully into this fight.

WBA #4 light heavyweight and recent world title challenger Vyachelsav Uzelkov (23-1, 14 KOs) survived several threats in his first comeback fight against tough-as-nails Georgian Georgy Tevdorashvili (6-4-2, 4 KOs). Uzelkov wasn’t consistent in the first three rounds, resembling his worst form since July's Shumenov loss. He was passive allowing his unskillful but determined opponent to take his due. Uzelkov got better in the fourth and in the fifth but the sixth stanza was once again in Georgian’s favor. Finally, in the seventh the Ukrainian fighter caught his opponent with a hellacious blow to the liver which wasn’t mysteriously scored as a knockdown. The favorite went in for kill in the eighth stanza and dropped Tevdorashvili twice more. The Georgian was able to go the distance but lost a unanimous decision.

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Other results

Kostya Rovenskiy (15-0, 3 KOs) TKO 2 Denis Tupilenko (2-16)

Mamed Yadgarov (16-5-1, 10 KOs) KO 1 Georgy Mchedlishvili (7-4-1, 1 KO)

Valentyn Golovko (13-0, 8 KOs) TKO 4 Alexander Saltykov (8-24-3, 5 KOs)

Agali Alyshev (13-5-2, 10 KOs) D 6 Rakhim Mingaleev (27-64-2, 8 KOs)

Dmitry Semernin (6-0, 3 KOs) SD 6 Nikolay Korenev (2-4)

Mikhail Vinnichenko (5-14, 2 KOs) SD 6 Igor Nekhay (0-2)

Vasyl Tarabarov (22-0-1, 8 KOs) UD 4 Vitaly Charkin (0-9)

K2 Promotions arranged this event; Inter has televised it.