| |
|
|
Cloutier’s Canada Corner
Makhmudov Stops Rice In The Seventh Round
By Daniel Cloutier
The Montrealer Russian heavyweight Arslanbek Makhmudov
promised to keep his perfect record, and he was perfectly
right. Friday evening in the ring of the Cabaret of the
Montréal Casino, Makhmudov won the WBC Inter-Continental
heavyweight championship in beating the Californian Jonathan
Rice (10-4-1) by TKO.
Makhmudov was the aggressor from the beginning to the end of
the fight, but it was not an easy bout for him, because Rice
was moving constantly from right to left in the ring.
In the first five rounds, Makhmudov connected the best power
punches. On his side, Rice was just jabbing, two or three
times per round.
In the sixth round, Makhmudov provoked a knockdown with a
great power shot on the chin, in a corner.
In the seventh round, Makhmudov maintained his intense
attacks, he put Rice in trouble, and the referee, Mike
Griffin, intervened to declare Rice TKO.
“I was the aggressor in each round, but it was not easy to
fight a runner like Rice,” said Makhmudov after the fight.
“It’s a major step in my career. I want to keep my perfect
record to increase my chances to be ranked in Top 10 in the
world. Fort sure, I deserved plenty this win. Rice was
avoiding confrontations with me, like you saw it.”
For Makhmudov, a fighter of 6’6’’ and 260 pounds, it’s was
his eight win (8-0-0), all scored by KO or TKO.
Just before the main event, the Montrealer super lightweight
Mathieu Germain, the IBF international 140 pounds champion,
improved his pro record to 17-0-1 with a win by unanimous
decision in 10 rounds over the Mexican Jose Eduardo Lopez
Rodriguez (29-7-2).
The fight was intense in most of the rounds.
However, Germain was faster than his opponent, and more
accurate.
The three judges got the same scores, 100-90 for the
Montrealer.
The Montrealer Russian super lightweight Batyr Juikembayev
stayed undefeated in 16 pro bouts (16-0-0) and his job was
pretty easy.
Jukembayev provoked a knockdown in the first round, and the
referee stopped the bout, declaring the Mexican Luis Jesus
Vidales TKO.
Jukembayev signed his 16th win after only three minutes of
action in the bout.
For Vidales, it was a seventh defeat (13-7-0).
The middleweight Clovis Drolet;et, from Québec City,
improved his pro record to 10-0-0 in beating the Mexican
Michi Munoz (27-10-1) by KO in the sixth round.
Drolet attacked furiously from the beginning to the end of
the bout.
Drolet send his opponent on the floor in the fourth round
with a solid power shot on the jaw.
In the sixth round, Drolet scored a KO with a great power
punch on the chin,Munoz has been unable to get back on his
legs before the count of 10.
The super welterweight Raphael Courchesne, from
Saint-Hyacinthe, Québec, increased his pro record to 6-0-0
with a victory by TKO over Nestor Faccio (17-11-2), from
Salto, Uruguay.
Courchesne attacked energetically in the second round, and
the referee intervened to declare Faccio TKO.
Faccio looked seriously in trouble when Courchesne connected
him with several power shots in this second round.
The super middleweight Lexon Mathieu, from Québec City, did
not work very hard to score his third win in pro boxing
(3-0-0). He beat the Argentinian Hernan Perez (5-3-0) by TKO
in the first round.
Mathieu connected power shots in the first minute of the
bout, and he sent twice his rival on the canvas.
For the referee, it was enough. The fight has been stopped
after only 1.44 minute of action.
The Montrealer Russian light heavyweight Arutyun Avetisyan
stayed undefeated in 13 pro bouts (13-0-0) with a win by KO
in the fifth round over the Argentinian Cesar Hernan Reynoso
(15-13-4).
In the sixth round, Avetisyan provoked a knockdown with a
solid hook to the body, and the referee intervened to stop
the bout.
It was clear that Reynoso was suffering a lot after his
visit on the canvas.
In tne opening bout of the evening, the Russian middleweight
Andrei Efremenko made successful pro debut in beating the
Mexican Victor Herrera (5-2-2) bu unanimous decision in four
rounds.
Herrera provoked a knockdown in the second round with a
solid hook on the chin, but the Russian dominated the action
in the three others rounds.
Efremenko connected more power shots than his opponent in
three of the four rounds.
The judges scored the bout 39-36, 39-36 and 39-237 for the
Russian.
In the only female bout of the evening, the Montrealer
flyweight Kim Clavel improved her pro record to 8-0-0 with a
win by unanimous decision in eight rounds over the
Argentinian Tamara Elizabeth Demarco (8-2-0).
|
|
|
