Magomed Kurbanov Moves One Step Closer To a Possible World Title Shot
Much is at stake at Yekaterinburg Sports Palace, in Yekaterinburg, Russia. We have a battle of top 5 world-ranked junior middleweights. The winner moves one step closer towards a possible world title shot. Liam “Beefy” Smith is in search of one more crack at a world title. The 32-year-old former WBO 154 pound champ from Liverpool, England is currently ranked second by the WBO at 154. For Smith to put himself in a position to get one last world title try, he must do so on enemy territory against Magomed Kurbanov.
Liam Smith came into world prominence when he defended the WBO Junior Middleweight title against Canelo Alvarez in September of 2016. The Brit gave a valiant effort but was stopped in nine rounds. He secured a second-world title shot against then-WBO Junior Middleweight champion Jaime Munguia in July 2018. However, he was on the short-end of the stick once again. Munguia defeated him by unanimous decision and maintained his presence on the world scene at 154. Since then, he has established himself as the top junior middleweight in the UK and is currently ranked second by the WBO at junior middleweight.
Kurbanov, the 25-year-old resident of Ekaterinburg, Russia, has been guided carefully by promoter German Titov. He is viewed as potentially the next world champion from Russia. Ranked fifth by the WBO at 154, the most noteworthy performance in his resume is a win over Diego Chavez in November 2019. Chavez drew with former unified junior welterweight and former welterweight champion Timothy Bradley.
BATTLE OF WITS
Kurbanov (22-0, 13 KOs) fights like a poor man’s Floyd Mayweather Jr. He likes to jab and implores his version of the shoulder-roll. He attempted to keep the fight at distance and make this a boxing match more than a pure fire-fight. Smith has a history of being a slow starter, and the Russian tried to take advantage to gain an early lead., but Smith (29-3-1, 16 KOs) is a vet. As he started to warm up, he began to press the action in rounds three and four. The 32-year-old from Liverpool, England began to find a home for shots up the middle, particularly with the right hand and right uppercut.
FROM CHESS MATCH TO TEAR-UP
The action was being contested at a high pace as the fight headed into the middle rounds. Liam Smith continued to pile on the pressure and find a home for the 1-2 combination. Kurbanov was finding success on his own as he did a good job counterpunching the attacking Brit. He stunned Smith at the end of the seventh and tenth rounds with counter-right hands, but Smith fought back and fought back hard.
As the action entered the championship rounds, the fight was up in the air. Given that backdrop, both men put it all on the line in rounds 11 and 12. Kurbanov showed more signs of fatigue, but his will and fighting in front of the hometown crowd carried him on. Smith was unrelenting as he was on Kubranov like bad breath.
Overall, this was an excellent back and forth battle. In the end, the scores were 115-113, 115-113, 117-112 in favor of Magomed Kurbanov. With the win, he will now be ranked second by the WBO at junior middleweight. Up next is a fight against the WBO number one ranked junior middleweight contender, Tim Tszyu, in what will be a WBO junior middleweight world title eliminator.
By: Michael Wilson Jr.
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