Zaur Abdullaev Nears Title Shot & Silyagin Snags a Quick KO
At the KRK Uralets in Ekaterinburg, Russia, Zaur Abdullaev (19-1, 11 KOs) battled former WBA junior lightweight champion Roger Gutierrez (27-6-1, 21 KOs) in a ten-round contest between world-ranked lightweights.
In the early rounds, both fighters battled to see who would control the center of the ring. Gutierrez found a home for some decent right hands to the head. But Abdullaev was more accurate with his punches.
By the middle rounds, Abdullaev had Gutierrez fighting on the back foot. The former junior lightweight champion did a nice job of landing with his jab and catching Abdullaev with counterpunches up and downstairs. However, he couldn’t keep up with the work-rate of Abdulaev, who ended up with the victory by a unanimous decision.
Currently ranked ninth by the WBO, tenth by the WBA, twelfth by the WBC, and fourteenth by the IBF, Abdullaev has won his last seven fights. He is inching closer to a possible world title shot.
PAVEL SILYAGIN CRUSHES RIZVAN ELIKHANOV
It was a short day at the office for world-ranked 168-pounder Pavel Silyagin (14-0-1, 6 KOs) as he scored a first-round stoppage over the previously unbeaten Rizvan Elikhanov (14-1, 13 KOs) at the KRK Uralets in Ekaterinburg, Russia.
After some using his jab to box in the early moments of the opening moments, Silyagin put Elikhanov down on the seat of his pants with a thunderous left hook. Seeing his opponent hurt, Silyagin pounced.
The 30-year-old poured on the punches until Elikhanov went down to one knee with thirty-five seconds left in the round. It was at this point that the referee wisely waved the fight over.
Currently ranked thirteenth by the WBA in the super middleweight division, this is arguably the most impressive victory to date for Silyagin. Look for him to continue to ascend in the world rankings.
