Montreal CasinoMontreal, Canada. Canadian-born Russian heavyweight (over 90.7 kg) Arslanbek Mahmudov (15-0, 14 KOs) got drunk with an old gatekeeper from France and a former challenger Carlos Takam (39-7-1, 28 KOs) – the one who in 2019 was supposed to become the first opponent in the new division for the former absolute cruiserweight champion Ukrainian Oleksandr Usyk (the fight did not take place due to an injury to the favorite).
Takam yawned Makhmudov’s right straight at the start of the fight, after which he was forced to take a knee. The African continued the fight, snapped with a right overhand and hit – the attacking fuse of the knockout evaporated before the end of the three-minute period.
The 3rd and 4th three-minutes went into the underdog’s piggy bank: he hit with the right overhand, then checked the strength of the big man’s beard with two sweeping left hooks – Makhmudov holds well. The favorite clinched a lot, constantly leaning on the veteran. In the 4th round, he completely jumped on Takama.
In the attack, the puncher acted readably. Everyone was shouting in Mahmudov’s corner: coach Mark Ramsay, cutman Russ Anber. They demanded not to invest in punches, to box, they scolded him for forgetting about the jab.
In the 6th round, Makhmudov hit a little more often, but the best blow (right counterhook) still went to Takam. It even seemed that the favorite was slightly shaken. It’s lucky that the 41-year-old veteran doesn’t have the strength to develop successful episodes.
In the 7th round, Makhmudov was lucky: Takam soloed, pinned the favorite at the ropes, missed, missed a splash and fell. Despite the fact that the blow clearly fell on the back of the head, the knockdown was recorded. It is possible that the referee will soon return the favor to Takam – he issued Makhmudov the last warning for constant attempts to lean on the opponent with all his weight.
In the 9th round, both suddenly became more active. Takam squeezed the favorite in the corner, but this did not bring him any dividends. In the last round, he sketched a great Russian native. If not for the mistakenly counted second knockdown, he could have counted on winning.
Makhmudov is very far from the division’s elite. In vain, the WBC is dragging him to the title – their “silver” title is at stake.
The score of the judges: 96-92, 97-91 and 96-92 in favor of the favorite. Loyal home judging…
Mahmudov UD 10.
Warming up local middleweight (up to 72.6 kg) Stephen Butler (31-3-1, 26 KOs) beat the American as a favorite Mark Delucu (28-4, 16 KOs). At stake was Butler’s NABF North American Championship belt.
The left-handed ex-Marine “Bazooka” Deluca spent the starting round a little more active, but was inferior to the champion in efficiency. In the 2nd three-minute period, he gave the initiative to the favorite, tried to defend himself at the ropes with dives and slopes. It turned out badly – I missed the right straight, ended up on the canvas. The fighter rose to his feet, but did not convince the referee of his readiness to continue the fight.
Butler TKO 2.