Beterbiev Keeps His Perfect Record With TKO In The First Round - Pound4Pound.com

Cloutier’s Canada Report
Beterbiev Keeps His Perfect Record
With TKO In The First Round

By Daniel Cloutier
Photos: Robert Lévesque

GATINEAU, Canada — The Montrealer Russian Artur Beterviev promised to his fans and his promoter that the Argentinian Isidro Ranoni Prieto would be unable to kill his dream, the dream to dispute soon a world championship bout, and he said the truth.

Friday evening in the ring of the Casino of Lac Leamy (beside Ottawa, the Canadian Capital), Beterviev stayed undefeated in beating Prieto by TKO in the first round in a NABA North American championship and a WBC Silver light heavyweight championship. Beterviev wanted absolutely to keep his perfect record, 11-0-0, 11 wins by KO or TKO, and he achieved it.

In 2015, Prieto (26-2-3) suffered of his first lost in pro boxing at Bell Centre in Montréal. He lost by unanimous decision against the actual WBC first contender, the Montrealer Colombian elder Alvarez (21-0-0). Prieto found the way to give a good opposition to the Montrealer. Before this match up with Beterbiev, Prieto was ranked eight contender by the WBO in the 175 pounds division.

Beterbiev provoked a knockdown in the first minute of bout with his first power shot of the evening, a solid right hand on the chin. One minute and a half later, Beterbiev provoked another knockdown, and the Argentinian was clearly dizzy at that moment. The referee Mike Griffin stopped the bout and declared Beterbiev winner by TKO after only 2.44 minutes of action in the fight. Prieto finished the fight with a bloody face.

“It’s was more than clear in my mind, Prieto was dreaming in thinking seriously he could become the first fighter to beat me, said Beterbiev when he got out of the ring. It was crucial for me to keep a perfect record, too keep alive my chances to dispute soon a world championship bout, and I reached my goal. I knew that Prieto was an aggressive fighter, but I knew I was a better boxer than him, a more complete boxer than him and a stronger puncher than him. I dominated him technically, strategically and physically. I want to stay active the most possible, in waiting a call for a world championship bout. As you know, I want absolutely to get a chance to fight in a world championship bout. I am persuaded I can beat all the big names of the 175 pounds division.”

Beterbiev, the only light heavyweight to be ranked in the Top five of the international ratings with only 11 bouts of experience, is ranked third contender by the WBC, the WBA and the WBO, and second by the IBF.

The Californian Andre Ward (31-0-0) is detaining the WBA, WBO and IBF crowns in the light heavyweight division, and the WBC title is detaining by the Montrealer southpaw Adonis Stevenson (28-1-0)… the Beterviev’s teammate in the GYM Group organization, headed by the promoter Yvon Michel.

“If Ward is ready to fight me, I will certainly accept to fight him", said Beterbiev. "I have less experience than him in pro boxing, but I am persuaded that my skills, my determination and my power are the weapons to beat him. I hope this fight will become reality in 2017.”

Bernard Barré, the scout of the GYM Group, the man who recruited Beterviev for the organization in 2013, said: “Artur proved again how much he as an exceptional talent. Each time I see him in action, I am more and more persuaded that the light heavyweight champions of the world will try everything possible to avoid him. My prediction was that Artur would stop Prieto before the end of the fifth round. He did it before the end of the first rounds.”

In the most important preliminary bout of the evening, the super bantamweight Vislan Dalkhaev, a Montrealer Russian, improved his pro record to 9-0-0 in beating the Mexican Salvador Hernandez (14-5-0) by unanimous decision in eight rounds.

Dalkhaev, efficient technically, controlled the action in the first three rounds. However, the Mexican got a solid offensive performance in the fourth round.

The fifth and sixth rounds, lightly dominated by Dalkhaev, produced intense action for the crowd. Dalkhaev finished the fight on a good note. He took back the control of the action in the last two rounds.

The judges gave scores of 80-72, 80-72 and 79-73, showing a clear domination for the Montrealer.

The light heavyweight Louisbert Altidor, from Ottawa, increased his record to 5-0-0 in beating the Mexican Alvaro Henriquez (13-17-2) by TKO in the sixth round.

Altodor dominated easily the bout. He was the aggressor in each round. Henriquez suffered a lot in this fight. Altidor finished the job in the last round, in provoking two knockdowns. The referee intervened to declare Henriquez TKO.

The middleweight Danyk Bertrand Croteau, from Gatineau, won by KO in the first round against Alex Ebanks (1-3-0), from Toronto. The looser stayed on the floor for three long minutes.

Croteau was clearly too fast and too strong physically for his opponent.

In the opening fight of the evening, the Montrealer super welterweight Roodsy Vincent (1-1-0) won by TKO in the first round against Mike Breton (1-3-0), from St-Georges de Beauce, Québec.
Vincent sent his opponent on the floor with a powerful left hook on the chin, and Breton was clearly too dizzy to continue the fight. The referee stopped the bout after only 1.43 minute of action.

In the only female bout of the event, the cruiserweight Vanessa Lepage Joanisse (3-0-0), from Gatineau, won by TKO at the end of the third round against the Mexican Maria Jose Velis (1-2-0). Joanisse never stopped to attack furiously with both hands and hurt her opponent. Velis surrounded at the end of this third round.